Flatlined
by Azkam Shazam
Summary: When computer program ZAG-RS sends Rex and an unlikely companion back in time, it's up to them to solve riddles in order to return to the present. Set somewhere at the end Season 2. T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Generator Rex, and thank goodness Man of Action/Cartoon Network does or it would cease to exist due to my atrocious management. **

**Note: Wow, I haven't published in awhile. I've been so busy, even during the summer! I first watched this show on an airplane, and I first thought, "Yes! Another great show I actually want to watch. And it's on Cartoon Network!" Hence, the plot bunny attacked once I returned home. **

**I hope you enjoy what I have written, (and even if you don't), please review and tell what you think. Flames are only accepted if they contain constructive criticism, otherwise, they can go die in a hole to put it nicely. **

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 <strong>

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><p>It was another one of those boring days at Providence HQ. Rex sat on the edge of his bed, mindlessly bouncing a rubber ball up and down off the cold grey floor of his room. The ping of the ball as it made contact with the ground filled Rex's room with repetitive sound.<p>

Rex made a mental checklist of things he could possibly do rather than sit on his butt all day.

Do his homework? Check. Annoy Six? Check. Help Bobo with a prank? Check. Get owned by Noah for the gazillionith time at basketball?

Rex begrudgingly checked that last one.

Suddenly his room erupted in sound, becoming swathed in red blinking lights as the emergency siren went off. Rex stopped bouncing his ball, catching it in mid-air. Smashing and kicking EVO butt?

Rex grinned as he left his ball behind and raced out the door to meet Six as they hurried to the control room.

He was so going to check this one.

White Knight's face dominated the giant screen as Rex and Six entered. Dr. Holiday momentarily turned away from a computer console to address them.

"Rex! Six! ZAG-RS has uploaded herself to local university, and it seems she is targeting a prototype time machine. All students and faculty have been evacuated, but we need to stop her before she reaches the machine."

Rex raised his eyebrows at this. A time machine? Way cool!

Dr. Holiday turned back to the console and began typing furiously, bringing up various screens illustrating machine designs. "The machine is powered by a small nuclear reactor, which has a failsafe switch located somewhere inside the machine since the electricity cannot be cut off the university in time. Find this switch and disarm the machine!"

"No problem doc, dismantling machines is what I do best!" Rex said. "Good." she replied, "You two will be airlifted immediately to the location." She handed them a hand-held device with large screen. "This GPS unit that will help you find the machine." she said, "Try and _follow _it this time, Rex."

Six raised an eyebrow as the Hispanic teen protested, "Hey, I _only _got lost that one time because the EVO stepped on it!" Dr. Holiday rolled her eyes, "Just go and complete the mission." Rex grinned and gave a mock salute before Six pulled him away to the aircraft hangar.

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><p>About five minutes later, Six and Rex climbed out of the jump jet and made their way to the university. Rex blasted through the front doors, and he and Six entered a long dark hallway.<p>

"Sheesh, would it kill for some light around here?" said Rex, "Sneaking around in the dark with an insane computer program raging out of control around is just creepy."

"Light would alert ZAG-RS of our presence and she is currently using the power of the university to keep herself running." Six answered in his low monotone voice. He touched his earpiece, "Dr. Holiday, come in." he said. The earpiece crackled with static as the doctor answered, "I'm here Six. The machine is located in Basement 2 of the Science Wing and the GPS should lead you two there. Holiday out."

Six pulled out the unit, making sure to follow the red dot on the screen. The building unexpectedly shuddered, and the florescent lights overhead swayed and flickered intermittently. "I feel a lot of nanite activity, Six. Can't tell if it's an EVO though." Rex said, suppressing a shudder.

They continued down the hallway, the corridor stretching in two directions. With the lights blinking on and off obnoxiously, Six closely studied the GPS unit that would tell them which direction to take. Rex just stared at the end of the hallway when a shadowy figure appeared and took a left, but when the light shone upon it Rex gasped out loud. "Van Kleiss! What is he doing here?" And with that, Rex took off toward his arch-nemesis, ignoring Six's alarmed shout of staying put.

Rex took the left and chased after Van Kleiss who had suddenly as he appeared vanished with out a word. Confused, the teen looked around for any sign of the villain, looking in every direction. He walked forward in the darkness, making a right as the corridor turned right. Rex came to set of descending stairs. "Hmm, maybe this leads to the basement." he thought out loud. It wouldn't hurt to try.

Rex felt his nanites hum as he stepped off the last stair. He cautiously rounded a corner and came to a large room containing a few desks and tables, and a giant machine occupying most of the room. A dark figure was hunched over the controls of the machine, Rex started forward when the machine came to life and the figure was electrocuted, falling to the ground in agony.

ZAG-RS's computerized voice filled the room as the machine flashed red lights, signaling the programs' takeover. The figure stood, and Rex could now clearly see it was indeed Van Kleiss.

"Van Kleiss, what are you doing here?" Rex threatened the man. Van Kleiss turned to face Rex, a small smirk adorning his features under his long black bangs. "Why my dear boy, the same thing as you." His words stopped Rex in his tracks. What was this guy up to?

"Whatever you're about to do, I am going to stop you!" Rex shouted, and transformed his hand into BFS, short for Big Fat Sword. He charged Van Kleiss, but the man stopped Rex's assault with a black tentacle, throwing the teen into wall. "Stop with the games, boy, we have a serious problem on our hands." Van Kleiss all but growled at Rex, "We must stop ZAG-RS from completely taking over this machine."

Rex couldn't believe his ears. Van Kleiss _helping_? Those two words shouldn't be in the same sentence. "Why would you help, Van Kleiss? All you do is create problems!"

"If you would just listen, maybe this information can go through that thick head of yours. Our present will be changed permanently if ZAG-RS controls the time machine and I suggest we work together to-," Van Kleiss was interrupted as the entire room shook, cracks appearing in the ceiling.

Six entered the room, drawing his katanas at the sight of the super-villain, advancing slowly. "I shall not allow you to impede my plans this time." ZAG-RS's computerized voice said, the machine sparking in various places. A hum filled the air, and it grew to a dull roar. The machine gradually powered up at ZAG-RS' bidding.

"What are you up to, ZAG-RS?" Rex tried yelled over the noise. "A test that must be performed." droned the program and at once the machine began to flash brighter and brighter, causing Rex, Six, and Van Kleiss to shield their eyes at the pulsing light. "No!" shouted Van Kleiss, and attempted to near the machine when the room started to shake intensely. A giant white vortex opened above the machine, sucking every item not bolted down into it.

Rex landed flat on his back as the room spiraled out of control, the machine now emitting a blinding light in which Rex could not see Six or even Van Kleiss. Papers flew past him in a flurry of activity, and Rex ducked as a chair hurtled past. He transformed his arm into BFS, stabbing it into the floor in an attempt to anchor himself.

Rex clung on for dear life as his BFS created a deep groove in the floor as the Hole slowly dragged him in, increasing in velocity. He felt himself leave the ground and fly towards the machine, and tried to initiate his Boogie Pack, only to have it disintegrate to pieces.

"C'mon, C'mon!" Rex urged himself to create a way to escape the force of the machine sucking him in, but all his machines crumpled into shrapnel on each attempt. A few feet away, Rex saw Six, his twin katanas deeply embedded in the ground as the agent gripped each handle tightly.

"Six!" Rex struggled to shout but the deafening noise carried his voice away, and Rex felt himself enter the vortex, his body seemingly stretching as his nanites screamed in protest.

Six saw Rex after what seemed like years and they locked eyes for a millisecond before Rex was sucked into oblivion, the Hole closing with a vociferous boom.

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><p><strong>Review please! <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the show Generator Rex or any of its awesome characters. **

**Note: Geeze, sorry for the delay in updating, but I am really glad I sorted out a problem I found with this story! Thank you for those who reviewed, please if you haven't given any feedback, I would gladly accept it. Flames, well they can go a fizzle out somewhere. **

** Anyways, please enjoy this next chapter! Any Spanish found in this chapter will have a footnote.  
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><p><strong>Chapter 2 <strong>

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><p>The room instantly quieted, papers fluttering down like sheets of snow. As utterly destroyed as it was, the only orderly thing in the room was the time machine, beeping and whirring, dominated by ZAG-RS' demonic red glow.<p>

Six relaxed his tense arm muscles and pulled each deeply embedded katana out from the ground. He made a quick survey of the room, which confirmed his worst fears.

Rex was gone. And into the future or past.

With Van Kleiss.

Six approached the machine warily. He needed to somehow have Rex and Van Kleiss transported back, but under ZAG-RS' control the two could be anywhere in time.

"Do not attempt to sabotage this machine during this necessary test." ZAG-RS' voice boomed, partially startling Six out of his mental process. "What test, ZAG-RS? Bring them back immediately!" ordered Six, his katanas half drawn at the machine.

"I wish to test the capabilities of this device to ensure its complete functionality, therefore sending test subjects into the field of time. If they fail, this current time continuum will ultimately be corrupted." ZAG-RS said.

It gradually dawned on Six what kind of test ZAG-RS assigned Rex and Van Kleiss. They were tasked with somehow returning to this time without changing, namely, destroying the present. Once the past or future was altered, the present would, in due course, cease to exist.

Six hoped Rex's recklessness would not screw anything up this time, but hope was all Six could do as the agent half expected the present to change at any moment. That kid had trouble as a middle name…

He put a finger to his earpiece, speaking into to it, "Dr. Holiday, we have a problem."

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><p>Hot.<p>

Smelly.

Wet.

Rex's foggy mind tried to comprehend these three senses as the teen slowly entered a conscious state. A ray of sunlight shone directly into Rex's eyes and he put up a hand to shield his eyes, sitting up in the process.

Rex stared bewilderedly at his surroundings. He sat about an inch in dark brown mud, surrounded by a tense forest network of trees and shrubbery. Vines hung from the branches of trees and muddy colored water lay in stagnant pools, breeding who knows what. Insect song assaulted his ears, and unbelievable humidity caused beads of perspiration to instantaneously appear at his brow. Whew, he just woke up and he was already sweating!

He appeared to be in the middle of a giant swamp, a marsh harboring a multitude of species and plants Rex had never seen before. Dragonflies bigger than his hand buzzed overhead while beetles the size of hamsters crawled among the undergrowth. Flowers in an assortment of colors decorated the jungle with spots of color. Rex went to stand up, glancing at the ground when what he observed took him by surprise.

In the damp squishy mud, a mass of various animal footprints were stamped upon the earth. Some were large and four toed, others resembled bird feet, but much larger. They all faced the same direction, and when he placed a foot in one of the larger prints, it dwarfed his foot. Rex tried to imagine what kind of animal would make such an indentation.

He realized he was standing in the middle of a well beaten trail. No, that didn't sound right, what did they call these things, trail wasn't the word…

The elevated trail went in opposite directions, the sun peeking through the dense rainforest of trees at odd intervals and illuminating the trail. Copious amounts of vegetation surrounded the trail on each side, creating small slopes. "Hello?" Rex loudly called, and was answered by a low rumbling sound. The ground was actually vibrating, the sound growing louder and louder by the second.

Rex spun around towards the direction of the sound, and gasped at the sight that greeted him. Three large creatures were thundering about ten yards down the path. These large beasts had thick grey skin and armored shoulders and necks, hideously resembling an oversized hybrid of a rhinoceros and armadillo.

Rex went to create his Smack hands, when he made a horrifying discovery. He couldn't feel his nanites. It was as if they had disappeared. His Omega-1 nanite wasn't working either! Rex anxiously tried to form BFS, to Rex Ride, to any of his machines as the creatures stampeded forward. "Argh, why are my nanites gone?" Rex all but yelled in exasperation.

Rex had no choice but to throw himself off the trail, rolling down the slimy slopes into murky water as he crashed through bushes. He floundered for a bit in the soggy water, his feet scrambling for purchase and arms flailing to stay afloat. Rex coughed and shielded his face as he tried to turn away from the barrage of mud flying from the creatures' hooves.

As the creatures passed, Rex's feet finally found the bottom of the pool, the water level tickling the underneath of his chin. The water rolled disgustingly in his mouth, prompting Rex to spit it hastily out.

Rex wasn't going to stand in the cloudy water a minute longer and clawed his way back up the slope to the run. Yeah, that was the word! The water stickily clung to his skin, and Rex took off his jacket and wrung it out.

"Damn." said Rex, looking down at his now ruined and soiled jacket. He failing tried wiping the muck and slime off, but soon realized the fruitfulness of the action. It was his best bet to try and find clean water, but in such a large bog, his chances were slim to none.

He figured walking in the direction the weird rhinoceros things ran in was safest, so he set off at a slow pace, alert for anymore danger.

Providence's secret weapon wracked his mind trying to remember the events that led up to his loss of consciousness. A mission…involving ZAG-RS and some sort of machine…"Oh yeah, a time machine!" Rex blurted out, instantly remembering. The ran curved to the right, and Rex continued following.

There was something else that happened…"Van Kleiss." hissed Rex, recalling the villain making a surprise appearance. Speaking of the devil, was it possible he was here too…?

Rex never got the chance to finish his thoughts as a loud screech sliced the air, and the teen quickly gazed around him. Up ahead, the trail fed into a large grassy clearing, and in the middle of the glade several large animals were feeding on what appeared to be a bloody carcass.

"No frickin' way…" Rex whispered, grasping where in time he was and at the same time mentally smacking himself for not realizing sooner. A child would have guessed he was in the time of the dinosaurs! He recognized that the animals feeding were among the most dangerous; hunting in packs so efficiently, it closely resembled a wolf pack.

Shreds of meat and flesh hung from the jaws of one of the five Velociraptors scavenging on a free meal. Rex scrambled to get out of sight, exiting the path and hugging the dense foliage on the edge of the clearing. Really, he didn't need the attention, just minding his business…

Suddenly one of the Velociraptors lifted its scaly head, snout pointed to the air as it sniffed. Rex held his breath, daring not to move. He couldn't fight anything that attacked him, let alone something with sharp teeth. He had a better chance stealing candy from a baby for crying out loud!

The velociraptor snapped its head in Rex's direction, its yellow lizard eyes calculating and surveying the area. Very slowly Rex edged toward a tree bordering the clearing, his fingers brushing the rough wood of the trunk as he took a careful step backwards. It tilted its head, and walked forward a few yards.

Rex unexpectedly slipped while walking backwards, his foot catching some moss and in the process broke his fall with some branches and decaying leaves. The noise attracted the attention of the rest of the Velociraptors, who all promptly shrieked in unison, believing Rex to be an intruder coming to take their meal. They all charged Rex, teeth exposed and claws protruding, like death terrifyingly swooping in.

Yelling in fright, Rex turned tail and ran back into the opaque jungle, smashing and trodding upon a wide array of flora in his effort to get away. He turned onto a muddy trail, and continued his escape route. The Velociraptors kept pace with Rex, their well-adapted talons gaining ground gradually. Rex was soon gasping for breath, running fast for a long distance had never been an option.

Rex noticed an exposed tree root too late, sending the teen stumbling and falling face first into the mud. Rex quickly rolled onto his back, groaning a bit as he cradled his wrist. It hurt as he flexed it, realizing he had probably fallen on it, how stupid of him...!

Rex could hear the Velociraptors screeching in pursuit of him, their footsteps augmenting noisily. He desperately looked for a place to hide, eyes frantically roving the jungle around him and off the trail. Rex noticed the trail was elevated where he was, an embankment of some sort with a tree growing to the immediate right as the trail snaked around it.

He scrambled to the rim of the path, and saw a small cave. It was barely big enough to conceal him, but he had to try. Rex shakily got to his feet and made his way off the embankment, slipping and sliding. He scrunched himself into the small space underneath the trail, pressing his back into it.

The Velociraptors came snorting to Rex's previous location, snouts sniffing the ground and heads turning in every direction. They confusedly looked for their now disappeared quarry. Rex once again held his breath, praying he wouldn't be discovered. One of the creatures looked out over the path, its claws gripping the edge and sending a few chunks of dirt onto Rex.

Rex was afraid the deadly killers would hear his rapidly pounding heart, the blood pounding in his ears. The silence stretched on until after what seemed like an eternity, the velociraptors stopped their search and lost interest, traveling onward down the path. Rex made sure they were long gone before he let out a breath of relief.

He checked his wrist, relieved it wasn't broken. Rex sat back and leaned his head against the wall, thankful he had escaped death but at the same time worried. How in the world was he going to get back to his present life?

Rex felt a droplet of water strike his dirty hand and looked up at the sky through the trees. Rain started to pelt the earth in large fat drops of moisture and Rex instantly became soaked. His eyes widened when he saw something entangled in vines high above the forest floor.

"¡Dios mío."¹ Rex breathed at the sight.

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><p><strong>Footnotes: 1) Oh my god. <strong>

**Please review, it won't take long. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the show Generator Rex. If I did, Cartoon Network would somehow find a way to make the IRS seize my house. **

**Note: Wow, I have gotten the most reviews on this story out of all of my stories. A measly total of five. But a good five reviews, thank you to those who did. They get extra cookies for that. Anyways, I sincerely apologize for updating so late. I very nearly stopped writing this story, but the plot bunny struck again, and here I am submitting this story. **

** Enough with my rambling, on to the chapter you have all been dying to read! **

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

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><p>Dr. Holiday was fuming.<p>

Throughout her career with Providence, yes she had "blown her stack", been "pissed off", and angry beyond belief. This wasn't a new emotion in her line of work.

But nothing compared to her present fury at her order-giving superior commander, the omnipotent, so aptly named White Knight.

"An order is an order, Dr. Holiday. As our secret weapon, Rex's return to Providence HQ is our number one priority. We can't afford to have him missing _in time_."

Dr. Holiday crossed her arms and let out an irritated huff through her nostrils as Six once again tried to explain the difficulties in retrieving Rex. What in Hell's name did that man not understand?

"Interrupting the machine's power supply will seal the hole in time created, leaving Rex and…" here Six paused.

"And?" White Knight said, narrowing his eyes and pressing the tips of his fingers together.

"…Van Kleiss unable to travel back to current time continuum." Six finished, waiting for White Knight's reaction.

"Our number one weapon was sent _in time with Providence's most dangerous enemy?_" White Knight practically roared, static appearing at the edges of the screen. "And you call yourself an agent."

Six stoically stood, taking the berating in stride. He calmly continued, but a steel edge crept into his voice, "However, ZAG-RS insinuated the possibility of Rex and Van Kleiss returning by mentioning the assignment of a task. A task of returning on their own."

"That's a preposterous idea, Six, and Providence isn't going to wait around for a sixteen year old to figure out how to jump through time! You are to bring Rex back here, that is an order. Is that clear?" punctuated White Knight, forcing the last words out slowly, as if he were talking to a group of children.

Six nodded but Dr. Holiday wasn't satisfied.

"I don't know if we have to explain one more time, but we are going to have to wait for them to come back!" she said, the exasperation in her voice clearly expressed.

"And we don't have that kind of time. Figure out how to bring them back, or we will have to forcibly remove ZAG-RS from the machine." said White Knight, signaling a dismissal.

"We need other options, Six. I don't know what kind of game ZAG-RS is playing, but it's going to be near impossible to remove the program." she said as they quickly exited the briefing room and out into the corridor. They walked towards César's lab, Dr. Holiday leading the way even though Six knew the way as well as she did.

The silver gray corridors were jammed with personnel, some entering and exiting through the sliding doors lining the metal hallway. Six was forced to walk behind Dr. Holiday on several occasions as a few staff members carrying various pieces of equipment passed them.

Six thought for a moment and opened his mouth to respond when he was rudely interrupted.

"Sheesh, what did he do this time? I heard 'e went through time or some'in.' " Bobo loudly said, cutting into their conversation as he joined them in their brisk walk.

"Don't forget to add his arch enemy who is with him." Dr. Holiday dryly added.

Bobo stopped suddenly, ignoring the workers surging past him in waves of activity, his one eye widening. "What a real party." the chimpanzee darkly grumbled and moved to catch up with the pair.

César was working on a new invention of his when Dr. Holiday and Six entered the lab, closely followed by Bobo. He immediately noticed their business-like demeanors, save for Bobo, who had a grim look on his face. A sinking feeling came to his stomach.

"César, we need your help. Rex is somewhere in the past or future, and the time machine that sent him there is inhabited be ZAG-RS." stated the doctor.

Shock adorned the inventor's face, but was then replaced by a look of wonderment as he placed a hand on his chin. "A time machine? I thought the Earth's magnetic field could not be penetrated so easily, let alone the space-time fabric-,"

"Focus, amigo." said Bobo gruffly.

"Hmm, so this means we need to keep the time hole open while transferring ZAG-RS out of the machine?" César thought out loud. "That's going to be tricky…but doable!"

Dr. Holiday gave a thin smile, relief flooding her being at the first tendril of good news. She crossed her arms as she waited for the creator to continue, thinking out loud to himself in his eccentric way.

"If ZAG-RS controls the machine and is the primary program in opening holes, then we would need a substitute program to put in its place." said Six, and César, as if had just discovered gold promptly exclaimed, "I know just the program!"

Bobo rolled his eyes and said, "Just don't make another bloodthirsty psycho computer will ya? I like my nanites in one piece and not blown to shreds, thank you very much."

César continued through Bobo's comment, now pacing back and forth. He stopped and turned to Dr. Holiday and asked, "How far away is Purgatory? The program needs many nanites in order for it to run."

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><p>The fat rain drops splattered Rex's face as he squinted at the vines high above his head. He could barely make out the tops of the trees as he was continuously pelted by the drops. A certain chill had settled into his bones, and he pressed his teeth together to stop them from chattering.<p>

Rex studied the object some more, making a horrifying discovery.

It was a face.

White as a sheet, but with closed eyes, mouth, and a sharp nose, a face greeted the eyes of Rex. It slowly dawned on him that this face must be attached to a body, and he wrapped his arms around himself tighter as he tried to pinpoint the location of the body.

The body had clothes similar to someone he knew all too well…Van Kleiss! If Rex wasn't so cold, he would have smacked himself on the forehead. The villain appeared to be unconscious, hanging limply in the wet canopy like a ragdoll as his black tendrils of hair dripped water.

Rex hopelessly stared up at the man, wondering how in the world he was going to get the villain down if the man was over twenty feet off the ground. Leaving him there would just be _wrong…_

Suddenly, the trees around Van Kleiss rustled, causing leaves to cascade in wet clumps towards the forest floor. Van Kleiss' body shifted, and his torso started to pitch forward. Rex held his breath as he prayed, _yes prayed_, for the man not to fall. The sopping teen moved to stand and somehow catch Van Kleiss when he let out a yelp shrank back into his small hollow.

A giant spider, bigger than Beverly as an EVO spider-thing, slowly descended through the parted braches onto Van Kleiss. Eight black orbs, reflecting light and sustaining an unwavering gaze sat atop the creature's beach-ball size head. Four feet long jagged jaws curved wickedly from the head to form the mouth of the large arachnid.

Rex held his breath and became motionless as he watched the spider approach its unfortunate victim. Even Van Kleiss deserved better than to be devoured by a spider! But the teen could only watch as the long black legs of the creature surrounded Van Kleiss.

Faster than the eye could follow, a serrated barb shot out from underneath the jaws of the spider, sticking into Van Kleiss's back sickeningly. Rex fought his growing nausea at the spectacle and watched, beyond words, as the spider went to work on Van Kleiss.

The creature started to produce a sticky white substance, covering the villain in copious amounts of the goo. Van Kleiss feet were the first to be concealed, next his torso, then finally his head and black tresses of hair.

Rex starred open mouthed at the ghastly act, water dripping off the tip of his nose and heart hammering in his chest. He knew that Van Kleiss was as good as dead, having been stuck like a pig with the barb and wrapped up like some prehistoric mummy but a flame of hope stayed alight in his chest, like a lighthouse refusing to go out during a mighty storm. Sure he had his moments of stupidity, rushing into danger blindly, but Rex wasn't going to stand around and watch anyone die, let alone his arch enemy.

As soon as the spider finished wrapping Van Kleiss up, it picked up its precious cargo in its jaws and began to move through the trees. Rex knew he had to follow it, ignoring his instincts that loudly screamed, _"Don't do it, fool!_"

The arachnid weaved its way expertly through the trees despite the heavy rainfall. Rex struggled to keep up, splashing through giant puddles of mud and thickets of fallen leaves. He pushed his wet hair out of his eyes to get a better view of the creature, pushing through the coldness he felt in his joints. How he would kill to get a damn blanket!

The trees somehow became denser and closer together. This is turn, limited the barrage of the rain on the Earth below, bringing the rain to a light drizzle, and Rex gladly stopped squinting so hard just to see three feet ahead of him.

Rex looked up and saw the creature had erected a crude nest of branches with more of its sticky white webbings at least thirty feet off the ground in a strange looking tree. The spider caused a few of the fruits to fall and collide with the ground in a colorful messy splatter as it moved into the nest.

Bulky yellow and purple spotted fruit hung in the branches of the large tree, resembling deformed pumpkins that had an accident with Easter egg dye. Rex gazed at the fruits for a moment before turning back to watch the spider hang Van Kleiss upside down using more of its webs. The villain was placed among many other white sacks, some big and small; others already thin from being sucked dry.

Realizing he was in plain sight, Rex ducked and slid behind some nearby bushes, mud coming up to his ankles and encompassing his shoes. He grit his teeth and wracked his brain to come up with a plan. He shifted his weight a little to stop himself from sinking too far into the mud when he lost his balance! Rex put out a hand as he fell to his right, his hand puncturing a fallen purple fruit.

An unbelievable itching sensation instantaneously spread all throughout his hand, spreading to his wrist as he sank deeper into the fruit. Rex panicked as he tried to stand up, flailing a little. His hand itched terribly, and Rex felt like biting his hand off to get it stop.

The teen finally stood and moved away from the fruit, clutching his hand and scratching it furiously with the other. The itching started to subside, but a new burning sensation replaced it, causing his hand to swell. Rex bit his tongue so hard that it started to bleed in an effort to stop himself from screaming loudly in agony.

He staggered backwards and fell again, landing with a wet squelch in the mud. Tears streamed down Rex's already wet face as he cradled his red, swelling hand. He stuck his hand into the cold mud, but the burning continued. Holy shit it burned! Rex gasped as his hand swelled some more, scared that at any moment his hand might pop like a gruesome balloon.

But no such pop ever came. His hand became red as a tomato, but the burning pain started to dully fade away, reducing his hand to a dull throb.

Rex promptly concluded the fruit was a dangerous thing. He also came to comprehend why the spider chose to have its home nestled within the poisonous tree. Any prey dumb enough to eat or even come into contact with the fruit would be heard struggling, and the spider would swoop in to devour any beast unlucky enough to consume the fruit.

And to think what it did to his hand…

"Damn." Rex muttered under his breath, and this time carefully moved through the mud to a hiding spot. Toxic fruit that nearly killed him, filthy from head to toe in god knows what, and his arch enemy about to be eaten by a nasty prehistoric version of a tarantula that he, oh, by the way, had to bypass to rescue his enemy?

The day couldn't get any better.

Rex peeked out through the bushes and to his amazement saw the creature move off high in the trees away from its nest silently. It was gone in a few moments, its prey swinging eerily in their white unbundles. Rex took this as his cue of rescuing, and he quietly made his way towards the nest. His heart pounded in terror and his ears strained for sounds through the light drizzle of rain.

If he ever made it back to tell of this, well, he didn't want to think about that possibility.

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><p><strong>Please review, for those who haven't, don't make me sick the IRS on you. But seriously, review.<br>**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Generator Rex and especially not its characters, Cartoon Network and Man of Action does, thank goodness. **

**Notes: Thank you for all who reviewed! As I hand out cookies to them, I would also like to thank those who read my story. The hits I have received do mean a lot to me, but nothing beats a nice review, ( even if it is not so nice)! I shall stop this chit chat and let you continue reading, or perhaps you have already skipped this part instead...**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

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><p>Rex had never been so terrified in his life.<p>

Wet leaves and muck clung to his boots as he tread carefully through the jungle floor towards the spider's nest. The canopy openings allowed for rain to drizzle through, the drops collecting and running in rivulets down Rex's face.

As he neared the giant tree, Rex wondered how he was to enter the nest, as high up as it was. But he pushed the thoughts aside and looked around the trunk for any foot holds. Some vines stretched from the upper boughs, brushing the ground. Rex in the end decided to try and climb the tree, not wanting to rely to strength of some wet, trailing vegetation to get him thirty feet off the ground.

He wasn't that desperate.

The wet gnarled trunk was littered with knobs and hollows, so Rex did not have a difficult time scaling the tree. He was careful though, to avoid any spots of that itchy fruit found on the outsides of the tree. Rex climbed quickly, and as he neared the top, heard moaning though the absolute racket and exotic resonances the jungle produced.

Rex was pretty sure it was moaning, a human sound.

The white bundles entered Rex's vision and as he poked his head over the top of the rough nest he grabbed onto the thick outside of it. The white swinging sacks looked surprisingly hardened Rex noticed, and he hoped he would be able to penetrate them somehow. His hand came away sticky and stretching the white web, the goo strangely resembling snot. Rex grimaced as he pulled his hand away, and held his breath too as his nose discovered the most repulsive and utterly disgusting smell the goo emitted.

It had to smell, didn't it?

The goo only outlined the edge of the nest thankfully, and as Rex hoisted himself over the edge stepped into middle of the nest. Empty bug shells and molting's crunched underfoot, leaving Rex with a feeling of more disgust. On a sturdy branch a few feet above, the victims hung in their tight white bundles. Rex stood and looked up, blinking moisture from his eyes as he tried to detect which bundle could possible contain Van Kleiss. He listened again for the moaning sound and heard it distinctly, though it was softer this time.

Rex knew he had to move quickly, for god knows what would happen to him if the spider came back, so he rapidly scanned the outside of each cocoon for the outline of a man. On the outer right was where Rex thought he found Van Kleiss, and he wasted no time by carefully approaching the sack.

He made his way over to the other side of the nest and stepped over, his pants brushing the white mucus and pulling away gummily. Rex placed his hand on the limb of the tree containing the hanging cocoons. The filament holding the cocoons up in place was at least two inches thick, to Rex's dismay, and he sure as hell didn't have anything sharp, let alone try and open a cocoon with his hands.

A sudden screech split the air, and Rex momentarily forgot where he was as he wildly stumbled back in a panic and tumbled into the nest. His back hit the branch and leaf nest floor the nest and broke several shed exoskeletons, but something protruded uncomfortably into his back. Rex hastily sat up and got to his feet to see what had poked him so severely. A large stinger with a saw-like edge at least the length of his forearm lay at his feet. "Geeze, that was really sharp…" Rex said and his face lit up.

He grasped the end of the appendage where it would have attached to an insect's body and apprehensively climbed out of the nest once more, approaching the quietly moaning bundle. Rex realized he had a dilemma. He would have to climb the thick branch, hugging his chest to it as he sawed the bundle underneath. The bundle could possibly fall, for Rex did not think he had enough strength in his one arm to lift Van Kleiss's weight.

Life could be complicated at times.

Rex made a split second decision. He began to ascend the thick branch and once the cord attached to Van Kleiss's cocoon was in arm's reach, Rex stabbed a hole in the top of it, near the thick cord and hoped it wouldn't jab Van Kleiss in the head, as funny as the thought was. Clumsily sawing, Rex clenched his teeth as the sharp stinger went to work on the outside of the bundle. His one arm holding the branch began to burn from sustaining most of his body weight and perspiration beaded on his forehead. Rex planned on sawing an opening in the front and easing Van Kleiss out.

Rex determined he had cut enough the moment he saw Van Kleiss's sallow colored face, with his raven black hair messily clinging to his face. The man's eyes were fluttering and his mouth moving, and sure enough a low groan was emitted every few seconds.

"Hang on, I'll get you out." Rex said breathlessly, and stopped sawing. He relieved the tension placed upon his one arm wrapped around the branch by holding on with both and rested for a few moments, then descended the branch and stood with his back to the nest edge. The stinger scrapped the branch as Rex leaned on it for support and took caught his breath. Here it got dicey.

Rex reached out with the stinger and placed the tip on the bottom half of the hole had created in Van Kleiss's cocoon. Rex gently sawed at the hole, trying to keep his balance on the narrow space the edge of the nest provided as it rested on one of two immense branches.

Van Kleiss's chest started to show, then finally his torso. Rex discontinued his cutting and extended a hand out towards the villain's pant leg when noise erupted above him. The teen gave a shout as a large black shadow enveloped him and white webbing covered him head to toe. Rex spun around crazily, his worst fears confirmed.

The spider was indeed angry.

Its large fangs stabbed down at Rex and all he could do hold the stinger out in front of him as a make shift sword to prevent the mandibles from shredding him like confetti. Rex dived under the arachnid into the heart of the nest and with two hands, grasped the end of the stinger and drove the point as hard as he could into the soft underbelly.

A piercing shriek emanated from the creature, and it thrashed about madly. Rex curled up into a fetal position, covered his head, and hoped not one of the legs' jagged outsides would not also cut him, debris and flakes of molting swirled around him and for a second Rex couldn't breathe.

From underneath all this confusion, Rex caught a brief glimpse of the cocoons outside the nest and to his horror watched Van Kleiss started to pitch forward out of his entrapment. The villain was to meet certain death from thirty feet! He had to get out from underneath from the creature and prevent the man's death.

An opening from underneath the spider presented its self, and Rex burst through, vaulting over the nest and through spider's legs. He dove towards Van Kleiss just the man's chest fully broke free of the white bundle and like a linebacker, crashed into the villain and wrapped his arms around Van Kleiss's middle.

The spider was not yet dead and its pain driven fury, shot out a white net of fluid as Rex and Van Kleiss fell to Earth. Rex screamed in his head, now certain he was going to die with his enemy felt his stomach do an uncomfortable flip-flop as their descent was abruptly stopped by the line of goo. The line stretched and snapped, sending Rex and Van Kleiss tumbling roughly to the ground. Rex let out a howl of pain as his right shoulder struck the earth and he rolled several times while Van Kleiss awkwardly flopped like a noodle into the muddy ground.

Rex rolled over and groaned, clutching his shoulder. But thoughts of the spider temporarily dispelled the acute pain and he looked up at the tree and saw the spider scrabbling down the trunk. Rex got to his feet turned to Van Kleiss and saw the villain had rolled face first into a purple fruit, and a smattering of hives covered the man's face.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Rex said and tried not to panic, running over and rolling Van Kleiss over onto his back. Rex quickly grabbed some leaves and tried to wipe some of the goop off, but the man's face started to turn a deep red and grow puffy. A few coughs escaped from the partially conscious man. Behind him, Rex felt mud strike his back and pelt the back of his head as the spider angrily charged like an enraged bull, forcing him to abandon his arch enemy and throw himself to the left.

Green fluid leaked from the underbelly of the prehistoric arachnid, but Rex doubted it was seriously hindered as he kept his eyes trained upon the wounded creature. He could hear how Van Kleiss started to cough louder and louder, and Rex was afraid the villain could possibly die from the strange purple prehistoric fruit.

How shitty.

Rex's brain buzzed as he tried to think of a way to maim and/or disable the spider, when he thought of using the most deadly thing he had encountered so far to his advantage. Staying within the spider's sight, Rex carefully took one step but the spider charged anyway and he turned tail and ran.

He scanned the ground for purple fruits, and found a cluster on a soggy patch of earth. Rex scooped three of them up and cradled them to his chest like babies, baiting the arachnid to follow him as he ran in a small semi-circle back to the tree. His back faced the tree once he came to a stop and the spider skittering closer.

Rex's body pumped with adrenaline and in a fleeting moment he felt his nanites, but they dissipated just as soon as they had appeared. He pushed the feeling aside as the spider drew closer brandishing its fangs poised for killing. Rex judged the right moment and threw to fruits to the ground, not breaking them, and as soon as the spider's first thick black leg struck the earth a few feet from the fruits he threw himself flat on his back next to the fruits.

Rex yelled as he chucked as many of the fruits that he gathered directly at the wound of the arachnid, ignoring the itching sensation on his face and hands as the purple flesh slopped down upon him.

The spider passed over him and instantly began withering. Rex scrambled away on all fours and watched in horrible astonishment as the spider's abdomen swelled, its legs dissolving in black bubbling masses and white webbing gush from its jaws. In a grotesque ending, the spider's abdomen popped in a birthday balloon-manner and Rex covered his head and faced the opposite direction as innards flew out in all directions.

When he surveyed the remains, all that was left was a half exoskeleton covered in black, frothy bubbles. Rex recognized the irony of the creature dying from the very fruit it used to protect its nest with, and tried not to be sick at the nasty sight, hastily turning away. But a new enemy hit him like a ton of bricks. Exhaustion reared its ugly head, each step fatiguing him. His eye lids fluttered and Rex tried not to pass out, and he swayed slightly on his feet. His stomach had the nerve to grumble too. A more pressing thought kept him awake, and Rex looked around for Van Kleiss.

The villain's face was very swollen and slightly purple now when Rex reached him. "_I gotta get something to wash this stuff away._" Rex thought and draped one of Van Kleiss's arms around his shoulder and with much difficulty, dragged the villain to the edge of some brush. Rex slathered some mud onto the man's forehead and cheeks.

Rex sat on his knees as he desperately waited for Van Kleiss to come around, but the villain had not coughed or stirred. He pressed two fingers to Van Kleiss's wrist and put his ear to the man's chest and disturbingly heard and felt nothing.

Van Kleiss couldn't die now, not after all the tribulations Rex had endured. Rex certainly despised the man for his past crimes and deeds of maliciousness, but if he died now, Rex's actions towards saving him would have all been in vain. Thoroughly frightened, Rex shook the villain a little and felt underneath the villain's jaw. There, a faint pulse was mercifully felt.

The feeling of fear was slowly replaced by a gloom, as Rex miserably kneeled in the mud, soaked to the skin and in the middle of a vast rainforest, near exhaustion. He was trapped in prehistoric times, without communication, and his arch enemy was perhaps dying at his feet. Rex dejectedly thought about Providence, about he was their secret weapon and the many cool abilities he had with the help of some tiny nanites, now of which had all together disappeared. Where was his help now?

He utterly felt alone in this strange, dangerous environment and as the rain began to intensify, his already wet scalp once more pelted, Rex truly and fully understood the feeling of helplessness.

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><p><strong>REVIEW!<br>**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Generator Rex, Man of Action and Cartoon Network do. Just for a day it would be cool... **

**WHOA. Please don't bite my head off, but my last post was a while ago, I know. But thank you for reading so far AND reviewing, that's what keeps the inspiration up for me to keep writing! **

**I shall keep you waiting no longer and present you the latest chapter! **

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

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><p>"Ah don't do sand for a reason!" Bobo irritably said as he shook himself, sand raining down from his fur. Six unfortunately got showered, grains gathering in the crevices of his shoes. Bobo grinned sheepishly as the man gave him a cold look. The two of them were accompanied by Dr. Holiday and César as they entered the base that now served as Rex's nanite off load.<p>

Desolate and remote, Purgatory was hopefully the answer in returning Rex back to the present. The base stood in the middle of a large desert, a large metal and concrete compound. "We shall make the program work. If there are enough nanites here…"César said animatedly said to Dr. Holiday. "Exactly how does this program work?" Six asked the inventor. "It's only power source are nanites, which it burns up for fuel. It took a while in order in program it to do that, but—ah-HA! Here we are!" César exclaimed as the quartet came to a large room filled with a large computer. Cables protruded from every corner to it, while displays flashed lists of binary codes.

The inventor practically skipped over to machine equipped with a control panel, murmuring excitedly to himself. "If we are going to be saving Rex's hide, I didn't get the memo of us being worthless sacks. Why are we here anyway, I could use some nachos." Bobo loudly said, scratching behind one ear. His question was answered when César shouted out, his back facing them as he typed wildly at the console, "The filtration cables need to be connected to the input tubes! I need someone to connect them at the very top of the machine!" César gestured to the top of the intricate machine, wires nearly touching the high ceiling.

Dr. Holiday and Six had made a quiet exit, and Bobo was the only one in César's vision as the man turned around. "Perfect! I shall direct you with step-by-step directions! First we…"

As César rambled on and on, Bobo said, "Damn. Why does the monkey always have to do it?"

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><p>Rex was beyond exhaustion. He had been dragging the dead weight of Van Kleiss through the jungle to some unknown shelter. Where it was, he didn't know. "<em>Keep moving, gotta keep the cold away…<em>" was the mantra Rex repeated to himself, blinking water out of his eyes. Van Kleiss was heavy, and Rex wasn't sure how much longer he could carry the villain with one of Van Kleiss's arms draped around Rex's shoulder.

He had been following a dirt trail for quite a while, chirps and animal noises sounding all around. Rex trudged through the dirt, his teeth clenched and fingers numb with cold. He looked up ahead, scanning for anything that resembled a shelter. The terrain was soon scattered with rocks and granite slabs, and Rex's legs burned in response to the increased elevation. A hundred yards away, the jungle ended with a steep cliff. Rock outcroppings with patches of vegetation characterized the cliff face.

Rex's hopes soared to an all-time high at the sight of a small cave near the base of the outcropping. New found energy surged into his tired muscles, and he lugged Van Kleiss a little faster.

The cave was about ten feet and six feet across. The floor was muddy and occasionally drops of water leaked from the ceiling. Rex cautiously looked inside, not wanting anymore surprises. Once he deemed it safe, he all but practically heaved Van Kleiss in and threw himself in after. He collapsed and succumbed to his exhaustion, sleep claiming him almost immediately.

The first thing Van Kleiss registered was immense pain. His face felt hot, fuzzy, and itchy. His clothes were soaked and he felt strangely bilious, as if he had the worst case of stomach flu. Van Kleiss slowly opened his eyes, blinking his right eye quickly as a drop of water plopped in the corner. His senses were dull except for the throb of his face and—oh his hands!

They were stiff, almost blue and claw like. His hearing came a few moments later, and he could perceive rainfall and what almost sounded like, curiously enough, snoring. He put out a shaky hand to brace himself as he clumsily sat up.

Rex was beside him, snoring like a bear during hibernation.

Van Kleiss shook his head a little as though to jog his memory. It came back in bits and pieces, his headache not allaying, making the process slow and arduous. A time machine… Providence interference…a large tree. His memory got fuzzy after that part, the tree the last he could remember. His tongue sat dry and heavy in his mouth like a mound of sand as he tried to think of what do to. He was in unknown territory with a stubborn Hispanic boy with no food or water.

Food and water was what they needed, and Van Kleiss begrudgingly grasped the fact he was to need Rex's help once again in order for them to survive. The boy must have brought him here while he was unfortunately unconscious and dropped from the exertion, the villain deduced. He would have to go and forage though, for Rex was in no state to do so.

Van Kleiss stood gingerly and it took all of his resolve not to scream in agony at the pain that lanced up his back. He hunched a little, feeling for the spot on his back. The blood drained from his face as he felt a rough two-inch hole punctured in his thick jacket on his lower back. He looked at his fingers and saw that he was bleeding, but not too badly. Thoroughly alarmed, Van Kleiss could not guess how he got injured in such a way. Only Rex would have such answers.

He stood once more, wincing a little at the pain from his wound and walked to the mouth of what appeared to be an extremely muddy cave. His boots squished through, and he partially squinted as he exited the hollow. Disturbingly, Van Kleiss could not feel the familiar buzz of his nanites as he clenched his biomechanical hand. They were somehow silenced. He stopped suddenly at the sight that greeted him, the strange vegetation and animalistic calls forming a conclusion in his racing mind. He determined just what time period they had landed in as he surveyed what lay beyond the cave entrance, prehistoric flora scattered down the cliff side.

How was he ever going to find anything deemed comestible?

He was going to have to try, for their survival depended upon it.

Rex woke to warmth bathing his face, and shivered as the blood in his face was pumped viciously through his cold veins. A spark landed near his nose and he scooted back quickly to avoid it, startled at the sudden revelation that he was not imaging this heat source, and that he was to be no longer cold.

The fire cast an eerie glow in the cave, and Rex made out Van Kleiss's outline as he sat up. His long black tendrils dripped and hung in his pale, emotionless face. The villain sat cross legged a few feet from the fire, an odd arrange of fruits placed in a pile to one side of him.

"What are those?" Rex groggily asked, pointing to the fruits. Van Kleiss only then seemed to notice him, replying matter-of-factly, "Our only source of food as we reside in a time period hostile to man." Rex gave Van Kleiss a wary look filled with a bit of dislike and Van Kleiss returned it fully. The air grew thick with silent tension as the fire crackled and spit on. "I would be curious to know how we ended up in the mess. You no doubt have that answer." Van Kleiss bit back saying, "_…for you are the definition of "mess"._"

How _did_ they manage to get here? Rex's brain sluggishly sorted through the events leading up to this _unpleasant meeting_, and he recapped each thing, definitely not leaving out the part about the purple fruits. "My tongue certainly was slightly swollen and my cheeks still feel abnormal." Van Kleiss said. "Your face was swollen up like a purple balloon!" Rex couldn't help adding, and he burst out laughing at the semi-indignant facial expression. Van Kleiss was clearly not amused, becoming tight-lipped as Rex got a good laugh in.

"Now that your unfortunate bout of childishness has come to a close, what sort of test does ZAG-RS intend for us to complete, as we are forced to work together again." Rex crossed his arms and actually did some hard core thinking. As much as he didn't like Van Kleiss, they had a big problem to solve involving how to get home.

"Well, ZAG-RS is a computer, and a computer program that uses machines. What did the time machine use again as fuel?" "Electricity, dear boy."

Rex resisted slapping himself in the forehead and instead glared at the now smirking Van Kleiss. That man was infuriating as hell sometimes. They were now deemed even, it seemed. "Well yeah, that, but like maybe metals?" said Rex.

Van Kleiss gradually understood where Rex was going. The boy talked so brashly and inarticulate sometimes it was a wonder Providence still functioned with him. "The metals found in computer circuitry are somehow related to our escape method." Van Kleiss concluded. Rex was partially taken aback. He didn't see that one coming! But it made sense.

"Aluminum, copper, and silicon!" Rex said, nearly shouting the last element. "Wait. Why is this important?" Van Kleiss held in a huff as he explained to a lost Rex, "The time machine markedly uses electricity, but silicon is the main element used in the circuit board in order for it to run. I'm sure you know this information." Van Kleiss said a little mockingly, and Rex opened his mouth to retaliate. Really, goading the boy was much too fun. Continuing on, Van Kleiss said, "Silicon is very rarely found in nature in its pure, crystal form, so instead it's used as silica. Silica can be found in rivers, rock beds, and dried volcanic activity areas. Silicon in crystal form can be sometimes found with gold."

Rex digested Van Kleiss's words. The key was silicon, or silica. What were they supposed to do with this metalloid? "So all we do is find silica and we can go home?" Rex dully asked. "No, we are to do more than that. Silica or silicon…" Van Kleiss narrowed his eyes in thought. If they were to find silicon, what are they going to do with it? He would have to brainstorm more.

"How did we go through time anyway?" Rex dejectedly mumbled, resting his chin between his knees. He was still a little damp, but the troubling thought of how they were going to solve this mess weighed heavily on him like a lead weight. Silicon was the key? It would be impossible to build a crude circuit board in such times!

Van Kleiss processed Rex's words. In order to travel in time, they would have had to bend the space time continuum. Vast amounts of energy and something else would have been needed in order to perform such a task…The time machine would have to first penetrate something else before reaching the fabric of space-time. "Time travel is accomplished when the space-time fabric are pierced—but not before entering something else." stated Van Kleiss to a half-listening Rex. Rex sat up a little straighter at this new piece of information.

Where had he heard this before? His homework? No. It was in some sort of lecture…Rex instantly remembered what it was. He was unfortunately forced to attend a notoriously long and extremely boring briefing. Six sat next to him like some granite statue and Captain Callen droned on uninterestingly in a robotic sound voice. "…and space itself can be cut into. The Earth's magnetic field must be gone through first in order to make time travel possible." Callen had said.

Rex wondered how he remembered things like that. How unmeaningful it had been at the time!

"The magnetic field of the Earth has to be cut into!" Rex excitedly told Van Kleiss, gesturing wildly with his arms. The villain gave him an odd look at the teen's sudden outburst. Chemicals, namely hormones made adolescents do strange things sometimes; one had to be careful around them. But the boy had the correct information. "The machine produces a hole in the magnetic field that must stay on long enough for objects to pass through. It is quite possible that the hole is still accessible, but at this moment may be the size of a pinhead."

Rex glowered at Van Kleiss at the bubble-bursting information. The man could be so pessimistic sometimes. "How are we gonna get to be bigger, huh? You know, you really need to stop being a party pooper." Rex said, feeling a little more like himself. He was drier and they had a way to get home! Or so he thought…

"The hole would be located near a source of magnetism, or in this case magnetite and the metal it is attracted to, which is iron." said Van Kleiss. "Let's go find some iron!" said Rex.

Van Kleiss held back rolling his eyes and shook his head, "Don't you see? We will be stuck here for eternity just looking for iron! A better metal must be supplanted!" "Well, do you have a better idea, smart one?" Rex retorted, giving the villain some lip. They were now standing face to face, shooting each other daggers while the fire crackled below them.

Van Kleiss sat down with a sigh. "We need to work to together to get out of this mess. I suggest you put that unruly tongue of yours back in your mouth and think for once." Rex slowly sat also and silently tried to think through his anger. If magnetite could show them the hole, what would show them magnetite besides iron?

"I don't know anything else besides iron that is attracted to magnetite. Anyways, if we do find iron, how are we going to dig it out? It's not like we have our powers or anything."

A piece of information sprung to Van Kleiss' mind. If their powers were gone, it would have to do with the weakness of the Earth's magnetic field. During prehistoric times, the magnetic field would be stronger than in the future, due to the buffeting of charged particles emitted from the Sun. Their powers worked when the strength of the magnetic field was weaker than now.

"Our nanites are an indicator of magnetite. The Earth's magnetic field is very strong, since the buffeting effects of the Sun have not deteriorated the field greatly. The hole stays open in a weak spot of the field, and our nanites should operate in this area." Van Kleiss told Rex of his findings.

Rex was beyond words.

"Please restrain yourself this time…" Van Kleiss mumbled, but he too felt a glimmer of hope flickering in his bosom. Pumping a fist to the air, a wide smile split Rex's dirt streaked face. "If you weren't so evil, I would give you hug!" he said happily, while Van Kleiss gave him a look that screamed, "_Please don't_".

They finally had a rudimentary plan, one that would with any luck, get them home.

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><p><strong>Review to keep the chapters coming! <strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own the awesome show _Generator Rex_. Man of Action and Cartoon Network do so we all can watch it regularly on Fridays. **

**Geeze, I haven't submitted in a while. Before you roast me alive, all I can say is one word. School. Anyways, this chapter is longer than the previous ones and if you find any grammatical errors and such, you can flame or maturely PM/Review. It's up to you. **

**I shall not keep you any longer with my sniveling excuses. Enjoy! **

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

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><p>They had been trekking steadily through the brush for a few hours, rainfall not ceasing since their unfortunate landing in the time period.<p>

Rex resisted the urge to ask Van Kleiss where they were going for the umpteenth time. It didn't make any sense to why they were wandering in a random direction, waiting for their nanites to suddenly beep to life. It's not like waiting for toast to come out of a toaster. Rex asked Van Kleiss anyway, not passing up on an opportunity to get in a good jibe. "Where are we heading, because at this rate, we might walk off the side of the Earth…"

Van Kleiss smoothly replied, "I am sure your air-filled head will float you off before we reach that point." He villain smirked as he could practically hear Rex grinding his teeth and muttering behind him. "But to answer your _question, _we will find magnetite converging near the bottom of this cliff face. We unfortunately cannot walk down a vertical slope, so we are therefore taking what we call a shortcut." Van Kleiss added the last part sarcastically, satisfied to hear Rex's huff. As irritating as the boy was, pushing his buttons was too easy.

Rex glared daggers at the back of Van Kleiss's black stringy hair filled head as he followed behind, throwing a few mental curses for good measure. The rock face was indeed steep, and they had made little progress in descending from their wet, muddy cave. Rex could see where Van Kleiss was leading them. A green valley stretched below the cliff-face, and rocky terrain, although darker in color, picked back up again. Magnetite was to be found there, Van Kleiss had surmised.

It had thankfully stopped raining now, but the sky had turned an angry dark hue and the air adopted a musty smell. Rex soon found it hard to breathe as they neared the valley floor, and they began to stop frequently, much to Van Kleiss's displeasure. The villain too found breathing difficult, but was determined enough to press on.

"Hold up, I gotta sit…" Rex all but wheezed as he leaned against a rock pillar. "The valley is close enough to touch. A few more feet, and you can rest,—'' Van Kleiss began. "Really, I…" Rex coughed, wincing as his lungs contracted painfully to let in oxygen. His lungs felt as if he had coughed continuously for week, and he put a hand to his chest. Van Kleiss scrutinized Rex's appearance a little worriedly. The boy's face was pale as opposed to the natural tan hue, and he was hunched over uncomfortably. As Van Kleiss drew in a sharp breath, he felt mucus buildup and he couldn't help but release a cough to clear his lungs and throat.

Van Kleiss struggled to understand their unexpected breathing problems. The air had become quite odious to breathe. He wracked his brain for any bit of information that would help them now. Studying the prehistoric era had its perks, now that he could use it efficiently. "The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is significantly higher during this time period." Van Kleiss told a barely listening Rex, jogging his memory. Yes, he remembered now…Atmospheric readings of carbon dioxide proposed by scientists for the Jurassic era were proved to have been higher.

Rex groaned in response. He really wasn't in the mood for a lecture, especially a scientific one. "What…what are you talking about?" Rex asked, his words slurring together a little bit.

"We need to reach the valley faster. There is too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen to breathe. We will die of suffocation if we do not reach to the portal." Van Kleiss made his way over to Rex and threw an arm around the boy. Together they half-walked, half-stumbled down the rocky landscape. Rex had never felt so lightheaded him his life, and spots swam in his vision. As his head lolled back, he dazedly surveyed to sky and squinted at a small bright orb. "Walk, boy!" Van Kleiss barked at Rex, whose feet were dragging a bit. Dragging Rex's almost dead weight was no easy feat, seeing that they were around the same height.

"There's somethin' bright'n the sky…" Rex slurred, the somniferous air giving a woozy feeling. Van Kleiss proceeded to ignore the semi-conscious boy mumblings and continue toward the valley. As soon as his feet registered grass, Van Kleiss all but dropped Rex like a sack of potatoes, the lack of oxygen eating into his energy. He wouldn't mind a small rest, it wouldn't take long…

Rex lay sprawled upon the moist earth, taking in short breaths. His mind was startling clear as the edge of his vision turned black. Abruptly he sat up, his mind suddenly clearing. It was his nanites! He felt them wake and surge throughout his body, and his mind began to race. They had to make it to the portal! Or were close enough to it… Begrudgingly Rex stood, glancing at a half-asleep Van Kleiss kneeling a feet away from him. Rex knew his nanites were fighting off carbon-dioxide poisoning, but they had limited time before he passed out. He waited for Van Kleiss's nanites to come around, now that they were close to a source of magnetite.

An amazing sensation erupted from his chest, and Van Kleiss shuddered as he felt his nanites stir. He noticed Rex was standing upright without a hunch, and he got off his hands and knees. "We've got to get there in time, so you lead the way." Van Kleiss curtly nodded at the teen, and they turned toward the stony landscape in the distance. They walked quickly; Running would rapidly diminish what little oxygen their bodies had left.

Rex tried to form any of his gadgets, but his nanites weakly responded, scraps of metal forming at every failed attempt. "Save your energy, boy. I don't want to have to carry you like an over-grown baby again." Van Kleiss said to Rex, not slowing his pace by the slightest. Rex knew he was right, but he had to try one more time…

Searing light and heat suddenly exploded a ten meters ahead of Van Kleiss and they were thrown off their feet. An acrid taste filled Rex's mouth, and he realized he had bit down on his tongue, the blood leaving a metallic aftertaste. He was once again sprawled on his back, and he squeezed his eyes as spots swam in his vision. The sky looked darker than normal, the grey clouds darkening. Dirt streaked his face and he groaned at the pain each breath he took. He willed himself to sit and immediately looked around for Van Kleiss.

He spotted him a few feet away, face down and blood running down his forehead. Panicked, Rex clumsily stood and hobbled over to the villain. "Van Kleiss!" Rex shook the man, checking his wrist and neck for any sign of a pulse.

He didn't appear to be breathing either.

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><p>Bobo Haha was no grease monkey. He didn't like the pun either. Covered in oil, spare copper bits and thoroughly irritated, Bobo was done working for César. "Loco scientist. Rex has one helluva brother…" the chimpanzee muttered as he climbed down the machine. César was still typing at the computer controls, Dr. Holiday and Six standing quietly in the back of the room. "The machine can now process large amounts of nanites! All that is left to do is inject the program…that I now christen Nanite Energy Consuming Interfering Program, or NECIP!"<p>

Bobo openly rolled his eyes at the name. He just had to name the doggone machine too. "César, is the machine online now?" Dr. Holiday asked as she and Six approached. "Yes, thanks to this grease monkey here!" César replied cheerfully, patting Bobo on the head. Dr. Holiday and Six took in the sight of peeved monkey, Six fighting the strange urge to laugh, as seeing how unprofessional that would be.

"Uploading the program should not talk long…was it about five minutes or so…?" the scientist asked himself, putting a chin to his hand thoughtfully. "Well, I have downloaded a sort of distraction for ZAG-RS to deal with before she completely destroys NECIP. Plug it in and it should work. Hopefully…" said César, handing Six a small grey chip the size of quarter.

Six pocketed the chip and quickly strode out of the room, Bobo close on his heels. They journeyed down the main hallway of the base. "You like you need a spray down." Six drily remarked to Bobo at his side. "Tell me about it. Hey!" Six had advertently led Bobo to a detainment cell, and a worker sprayed the ape with a blast of water. Six smartly stepped out of the way, not a droplet landing on his dark green suit.

Bobo stood soaking wet, opening his mouth to reclaim what dignity he had left when the same worker tipped a bucket of soapy water over the poor chimpanzee's head. "What the hell!" Bobo shouted, and Six fought to keep a straight face. No, the corners of his mouth were not twitching…That would not be correct conduct.

The worker hesitantly approached Bobo with a rough wire brush, but when they saw the murderous look stamped all over Bobo's face, they merely handed the brush to the ape, who snatched it away. "You owe me big time for this, bub." Bobo roughly stated, and Six merely raised an eyebrow and turned on his heel, walking briskly towards the exit. On his way out, he clearly heard Bobo, "Wait a damn minute, is this _dog shampoo that I smell?_"

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><p>Rex swore at the state Van Kleiss was in.<p>

A deep crater a couple meters across was molded into the earth, charred grass and smoking dirt strewn around. Rex was right when he though he say something bright in the sky. A meteorite shower was pounding the planet, and Rex surveyed the sky, noting the bright red dots streaking across the darkened sky. They were either going to be struck or die from suffocation. Rex didn't like the options given to him presently.

He checked for Van Kleiss pulse again, and almost shouted a halleluiah as he felt a beat and the villain stir. "We have to keep moving! Meteor shower!" Rex urgently said, grabbing at Van Kleiss sleeves as the villain's eyes fluttered open.

A headache pounded in his head was what Van Kleiss first registered, as unfortunate as it was. He groaned. He felt as if he had been clubbed with a rubber mallet repeatedly, and dirt was smeared all over his face. A warm substance trickled on his forehead, and when he crinkled is brow, a stinging sensation erupted near his hairline.

The next he registered was a certain Hispanic's boys annoying pubescent voice and his sleeve being tugged. Sometimes a moment was peace was all he asked for, even if it meant a near-death experience.

Rex took Van Kleiss glare as a go ahead and pulled Van Kleiss to his feet. "You were struck by-." "I know what happened. We need to reach the portal!" Van Kleiss snapped, cutting Rex off. Now wasn't the time for retrospect.

The landscape was littered with depressions and turned up vegetation, small meteorite projectiles striking the ground like sporadic rain that couldn't decide if it wanted to fall or not. Rex winced as one projectile bounced off of his head and another nailing him on the back of his neck. Running through a meteorite storm was not one thing Rex made sure he was to never do again.

Van Kleiss halted momentarily, and Rex could feel his nanites hum in response in what they saw up ahead. The grassy valley ended at the edge of a natural quarry, the light brown meteorite chunks contrasting against the dark igneous rock. The rock slopped upward and leveled off. Flickering blue light was barely visible at the top, but Rex's nanites could not deny that they had indeed reached the portal.

Finally there was an end in sight to this hellish adventure! And a shower that didn't include rain!

Van Kleiss and Rex attacked the rock face with renewed vigor, scrambling to get to the top. Rex pushed all thoughts aside and focused on the task ahead, gripping rocks and half-crawling. A tremor shuddered through the earth, and a few rocks tumbled down the slope. Their breathing grew steadily labored as the carbon dioxide slowly worked passed the immunity their nanites had established.

Legs burning and head pounding painfully fast from lack of oxygen, Rex sluggishly looked past Van Kleiss who was behind him and down towards the valley, his eyes traveling to the sky as he rested momentarily.

Charcoal black best described its color, with larger dots than earlier shooting across the sky and leaving in bright red angry slashes. The sky gave the landscape a hazy feeling, the ruined vegetation further trampled by large herds of beasts fleeing the onslaught of asteroids that rained down. A few small chunks still fell from the sky around them, but something caught Rex's eye that made his heart leap to his throat.

"Tenemos que avanzar más rápido!"¹ Rex yelped, climbing the cliff erratically.

"What are you talking about, boy?" Van Kleiss asked suspiciously, confused but knowing fully well what Rex asked. He half turned to what Rex was so startled about, and in turn let out an ugly curse. A great fireball that filled half the sky was slowly descending like a monstrosity from hell, seeking to destroy any shred of life. Somewhere in Van Kleiss frozen brain clicked a piece of information declaring that a gigantic meteorite was ultimately the lynchpin for the dinosaur's extinction. It would be theirs also if they didn't get the fuck out of Mesozoic era quickly.

"Systems are at a hundred percent. NECIP is ready to intercept ZAG-RS as soon as the chip I supplied you with is placed within the time machine." said César, Dr. Holiday standing next to him at the NECIP's console. She silently sent a small prayer that the plan would work and Rex would return safely. Then she wouldn't have to be chewed out by White Knight.

Six and Bobo entered the destroyed time machine room, ZAG-RS's red glow bathing the room chillingly. Providence grunts filed in after them, weapons ready. "You have returned, possibly to sabotage me." the machine stated stoically. "You will ultimately fail."

"Yea, we're gonna reduce you to a microwave's basic programming." Bobo snapped back at the program. Provocation wasn't necessary, but hey, what the hell?

"Keep it distracted." Six said, and Bobo gave a grunt of acknowledgement. As Six crossed the room toward the machine's back paneling, ZAG-RS radiated brightly very briefly, and a low hum vibrated the room. "That doesn't sound good." Bobo said to no one in particular. His sixth sense, (thank God he had one, unlike the dimwitted Homo sapiens, but God bless them for their pizza), tingled with nervous energy and he tightened the grip on his beloved red blasters.

Six's katanas sliced with deadly cleanliness into the paneling, and the agent precisely cut out a rectangle. Once the metal sheet fell away, Six began the painstaking search for the correct wire in which to attach the chip to. "César, please describe the wire for the chip again." Six spoke into his earpiece, and looked even more carefully into the paneling as the scientist replied cheerfully.

The Providence soldiers fanned out and searched the room. Bobo's hackles rose as the air adopted became static and the humming grew louder in decibels. A loud thump echoed throughout the room, and Bobo quickly turned to see a soldier crash sorely into a wall. Another was likewise picked up by an invisible force and catapulted into unconsciousness. Wall plaster and floorboards uprooted themselves and began to assault Bobo in a flurry of activity. ZAG-RS again glowed, and it dawned on Bobo as the shrapnel flew towards him that perhaps the damn machine was not so damn happy about his earlier remark and enacting revenge. Talk about a sore loser.

"You ain't gonna have your revenge! Say hello to my little _friends!_" shouted Bobo, and he rolled away from the oncoming debris, firing his blasters and obliterating all materials that flew toward him. More charged plaster along with ceiling paneling shot towards the chimp.

Six blocked and destroyed any rubbish that entered his area with his katanas as he sorted through the circuitry. He dimly heard Bobo's occasional yells of fury and blaster gunfire and calmly took this information in, his concentration unwavering as he searched. There! He hurriedly snapped the chip into place and connected the long sought after wire correctly according to César's meticulous and somewhat unnecessarily so intricate instructions. Sometimes, Six wondered how the man got anywhere in life with his long list of odd behavior. Six stepped back and waited for NECIP to activate.

Rex ignored the painfully sharp rocks cutting at his fingertips as his boots roughly pushed his fatigued body up the mountain side. Fear was his primary drive factor currently, along with an intense survival thought. He stared desperately at the top, the blue flickering blue portal a shining beacon of hope.

The lighthouse went out.

Rex's heart stopped as the portal disappeared in the blink of an eye. His muscles seized up and his brain froze as shock paralyzed him. Blankness best described his thoughts and he heard nothing but the strangled blood pumped through his veins.

Van Kleiss almost didn't notice Rex's immobile form and empty eyes staring at the top of mountain. The villain swore out loud at the vacant spot of where the portal once was, but unlike Rex, energy surged into his tired muscles. "Come on, it'll come back! We have to move!" Van Kleiss growled at Rex, and the teen snapped out of his shock to erratically join the villain in an all-out mad dash to the top.

The sky grew brighter around them and the temperature soared in response. Rex's skin burned and the rocks grew red-hot but he focused all his attention to the Top. The only chance for survival. The one way ticket home. He laid his hand upon the hot earth as he thrust his body over the edge of the Top. His watering eyes searched for the nowhere to be seen portal and Van Kleiss appeared beside him, a now blurry black shape.

Rex began to yell and he stretched out his arm, willing the portal to reappear as he felt his very body began to roast excruciatingly. His nanites seemed to melt within his body, and all around was brightness and dark pain. Loud sound rang his ears and Rex felt a sort of liquid coolness filled his being and he succumbed to blackness that approached swiftly and relieving him from the agony.

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><p><strong>Footnote 1) We need to move faster!<br>**

**Review if you want the next chapter and a solution to this cliff hanger. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Generator Rex_, Man of Action and Cartoon Network do. **

**Note: Wowo, I don't update much do I? As I fend off your slaps and kicks, I will say that I was really surprised at the turn of events that have happened so far in the show so far. I literally gaped at my television screen at this new Black Knight lady who totally kicked Six, White Knight, Bobo, and Dr. Holiday out of Providence. Since my story is set somewhere in the beginning to middle of season two, I won't change the story to match what has happened in the show and will finish it the way I originally planned. ****Your sighs of relief are most welcome. **

**Enough with my babble, on to the chapter! And tell me if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes and review! **

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

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><p>The room was darker than night.<p>

"All right, who cut the lights? This aint' no surprise party." Bobo said, slowly lowering his blasters. Six waited for any indication of NECIP working, his heart thudding nervously during the dark stillness. The silence ensued, until a small beep echoed and ZAG-RS's red glow slowly shone into illumination.

"I have destroyed your infiltrator program. The assignment is still effective and active as the portal still functions." the program droned, but Six was already running scenarios and backup plans. "Did NECIP perform as anticipated?" Dr. Holiday sounded in his earpiece. "Negative. No time transportation has occurred." The situation boiled down to an intense waiting game, and Six knew White Knight was not keen on playing this, but Rex was on his own. Six hoped Rex would pass this test, for his life depended upon it. If Van Kleiss didn't kill him first.

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><p>Rex felt as if an elephant had sat on his head and someone had rubbed his skin with sandpaper.<p>

In other words, he felt like shit.

He registered a gritty substance clinging to the sweaty back of his neck, and his fingers dug into it while his groggy mind made the miraculous discovery he was alive. He could have danced, if he wasn't hurting so badly. Rex forced his eyelids to open and take in the world around him. He was flat on his back, and underneath a gently swaying green palm tree. The sky was as blue as the ocean and not a cloud existed.

As Rex sat up, he surveyed the sandy landscape and a massive object that caught his eye made him gasp in wonder. The pyramid cut an impressive shape, standing like an insurmountable obstacle in the flat land one could not miss. Apparently, the portal worked and Rex was still on this damn mission ZAG-RS wanted them to perform. Why this they had to undertake this assignment, only God knew.

Speaking of them, Rex looked around for any signs of his best friend, King of Sarcasm and Scathing Remarks. He spotted the villain who lay face down in the hot sand and sun a few yards ahead of Rex's shady spot. Rex got to his feet and wandered over to Van Kleiss.

Grittiness on his tongue was not a sensation Van Kleiss neither particularly cared for nor actually liked. He lay face down in it, and the ground beneath him felt warm and dry. Van Kleiss was glad he was alive, but once again he felt like he was roasting. His hand and biomechanical one scrabbled at the gritty substance that surrounded him, and he heavily pushed himself to his knees, coming to a rest on his behind.

Van Kleiss squinted in the harsh sunlight and a dark fuzzy shape that was kneeling in front of him. Yes, he remembered he had a lovely _companion_. Funny how they both survived and entered the portal to endure each other's charming company.

"…pyramids! Look over there!" filled Van Kleiss's ears as his hearing came back incredibly slowly. He slowly took in Rex's gesturing and turned his head, willing his sore neck to see what the boy was so damn excited about. His hopes of arriving at home were sadly crushed as he realized they were in the time a thousand years before Christ. And sadly in the middle of the desert without supplies.

"Shut up and keep walking." Van Kleiss ordered Rex, gritting his teeth to stop the stream of curses that would have followed. That would have been a waste of breath, and Van Kleiss had every intention of surviving this ordeal, with or without Rex. The boy was his only connection to their time continuum, and Van Kleiss felt severing this connection would be the end of him. Actually them, if there was any special connection between them. God, the sun was making him sound delusional and somewhat sentimental towards the boy.

Van Kleiss had suggested walking towards the pyramid and looking for signs of life. The massive tombs the Egyptians built were often not far from their clusters of civilization, so the companions set out at a steady pace, placing their jackets over their heads in an attempt to block out the midday sun. Trudging heavily through the shifting sand, the two companions preserved a massive amount of silence. Rex tried to picture an overflowing fountain in an attempt to satiate his dry-as-bones tongue and a nice lawn chair to rest in. Van Kleiss similarly fought to ignore his parched tongue.

Several hours passed, and by the time they reached the pyramid, the sun was nearing the western horizon, signaling to the world it was getting ready to set. Rex collapsed into an exhausted pile, leaning against the warm limestone of the pyramid. "Now can we rest? We've been walking for…" he began, but Van Kleiss put up a hand to silence him and pointed to something in the distance. They both scrambled to get around the current corner of the pyramid closest to them and peered to see who was coming.

A band of about five men approached, two bearing torches, one a camel, and all of them short in stature, bald, and with dark skin. A simple knee length linen cloth was their only clothing and they walked barefoot in the sand. As they drew closer, Rex realized Van Kleiss was watching them quite intently. "Are we going to follow them?" Rex whispered to Van Kleiss. "Not right now." The villain replied curtly in the same volume level.

The band stopped, and two of the men accepted leather sacks from the man transporting the camel and walked around the opposite of the pyramid. Rex could now only see three men facing the wall adjacent to the corner they were hiding around as the other two disappeared to the entrance.

"Ok, so we—Oww!" Rex exclaimed as Van Kleiss cuffed him sharply on the back of the head. "Quiet boy! I am not going to let you ruin my plan by your gratuitous babble and chit-chat." Van Kleiss hissed. "We are to follow them at a safe distance once their departed members return." Van Kleiss said, and proceeded to peer around the corner one more and survey the troupe.

Van Kleiss waited to hear what Rex had to say, but he turned quickly when the teenager didn't respond and took in the surprising scene before him.

Rex was in no state to reply with a sickle pressed into the front of his throat and in a tight headlock. One of the band members had Rex pinned and eyed Van Kleiss with a palpable air of distrust and suspicion. Rex gulped, and he grinded his teeth when the blade was pressed tightly on his skin, blood threatening to spill at any moment.

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><p>"Well, what do you suggested we do Six, wait for a miracle? Providence is not an organization to wait." White Knight boomed at Dr. Holiday and Six.<p>

When the news of NECIP's failure and the only readily available solution was to wait for Rex to return on his own devices, White Knight belittled again them for such an "absurd idea" and demanded that they hack the machine outright. Dr. Holiday interjected here, listing the potential hazards if they were to perform this.

"We would have to make modifications to NECIP, make it more resilient and durable. However, its requirement of large amounts of nanites is an obstacle we are going to have to overcome. An extraction machine would to be built to extract nanites from, unfortunately, E.." Dr. Holiday said, her stomach churning uncomfortable at the prospect of completing such a task that bordered on immoral. Six digested the doctor's words, he too wanting a better alternative of building a machine that mirrored the abilities of Van Kleiss in a way. Pulling the nanites from a living E.V.O., or more specifically, a person, would inevitable kill them. The only alternative to extraction process would be to remove a certain percentage of nanites, eliminating the variable of death.

White Knight considered Dr. Holiday's words. "That sounds like a solution. The containment of E. must still be continued, however, and Rex must be here, in this base as soon as possible. We can't afford to have the public panicking over the absence of Providence's secret weapon." His last words signaled a dismal, and Dr. Holiday and Six hurried out of the white-walled debriefing room.

Immediately they sprang into action. "César, I am leaving you in charge of several engineers that are in your retention. Purgatory's offloading nanite machine needs specific modifications." said Dr. Holiday to the Hispanic inventor as she and Six marched into his laboratory. "What kind types of adjustments need to be made?" he asked, pulling back his soldering goggles and looking up from the prototype he was working on.

Dr. Holiday stopped before him, Six standing quietly as usual at her side. "The base's machine must be able to extract an exact amount of nanites from an E.V.O. without killing the creature. NECIP will take this nanites and use them as an energy source."

César frowned at this. He had to rebuild NECIP, altering it so it could resist ZAG-RS's attacks and adjust Purgatory's machine so it carefully extracted nanites from E.V.O. subjects. There was only one problem to all of this. "NECIP only uses the nanites as fuel, and it sounds like you want me to program it to use the nanites extracted from E.V.O.s. This is not possible for several reasons. NECIP can only process deactivated nanites, and the only person who can deactivate them are…"

"We know who it is. NECIP must be reprogrammed." Six cut in. César shook his head, standing and beginning to pace back and forth as he thought out loud. "NECIP programming doesn't have that capacity, but I could make it compatible with Purgatory's machine, and in the process creating a machine that will deactivate the nanites for a short time and then run NECIP within the machine…"

"César." Dr. Holiday called, giving the eccentric man a small smile. "Sí, doctor?"

"Rex will be home in no time." She said, and with that, she and Six left the now elated inventor, happy that he had a good challenge ahead of him and his hermanito¹ would be here once again, his funny sounding Spanish and all.

Six and Dr. Holiday hurried on to the War room, many personnel streaming in and out of the metal sliding doors. The room swarmed with activity, countless computer screens pulled up and White Knight handing out orders left and right like candy. "There's a category four E.V.O. rampaging through the downtown area. Contain it so we will have subject number one and actually get some work down around here." White Knight addressed them as they walked up to the main screen. "Hey, hey, hey. Don't forget about the monkey now." Bobo added in, climbing down from a rotating chair nearby and lazily scratching an armpit.

"Keep your baggage with you at all times and capture it quickly. You know what option to use as a last resort." White Knight said, and Bobo gave an indignant look. Six nodded at the man, and he and Bobo headed in the direction of the hanger bay.

"Heard there's a project. Care to fill ol' Bobo in?" Bobo asked Six. "The E.V.O. is going to be used as a test subject for NECIP." he briskly responded, and Bobo raised an eyebrow at this. "NECIP 2.0? Watch out, he might build Santa Clause a new sleigh if he keeps this up…" Bobo partially mumbled, and he strapped himself into the seat of the Providence helicopter/jet, Six piloting expertly out of the hanger and towards the disturbance. They were going to go kick some E.V.O. butt, damnit, because they were Providence. Cheers all around.

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><p>Van Kleiss calmly took in the situation.<p>

His only chance for surviving this terrible mess and actually returning home in one piece was about to be cut open and bleed like a stuck pig. Van Kleiss was not one to be indecisive, and he slowly raised his arms in what he hoped to be a surrendering pose.

He nearly swore out loud when the man pressed the sickle even tighter against Rex's adam's apple, the skin a hairsbreadth away from breaking. Damn, what was _wrong _with these people?

Van Kleiss then tried a different approach. He measuredly took his time in removing his jacket and holding it up clearly for the man to see. Sticking a hand into each pocket and pulling the pocket inside out, Van Kleiss repeated this every single pocket his large jacket contained. As he reached into the last pocket, Van Kleiss felt his fingers brush a hard metallic object. He pulled out a quarter and held it up for the man to see it.

It was like watching greed condense like a glass of cold water on a hot day as the man's eyes lit up, and he motioned with a slight head tilt for Van Kleiss to throw it to the ground a few feet to the left. The quarter hadn't even hit the ground when the man was upon it, snatching it up and leaving Rex to eat his dust. Rex checked his neck for any cuts and quickly stood to join Van Kleiss, giving the villain a grateful nod.

They froze as the man gestured with this sickle for them to start moving in the direction of his band. When Van Kleiss and Rex cautiously took a few steps, he waved at them impatiently and advanced, waiting for them to get the message.

Once the man and the now two captives reached the band, the departed members had returned bolstering heavy bags that jangled nosily each the bag was handled. When they saw Rex and Van Kleiss, they chattered confusedly and loudly to each other, their strange exotic tongue filling the air in swirling synchronization.

The man with the sickle barked at them a single command, they all fell silent. He was clearly the leader, the top dog if you will. He carried himself somewhat importantly, and commanded an air of respect. Rex got the feeling this man was very dangerous, to hell with being short, he would have you dead in a heartbeat.

One of the band members holding the camel's reins barked at Rex and Van Kleiss, who blankly looked back at him. Another member said something to the camel holder, and the band burst into spontaneous laughter. Rex felt on oncoming flush creep into his cheeks, and Van Kleiss even shifted uncomfortably. As soon as the laughter had begun, it quickly dissipated as the band leader waved his sickle in a cutting motion. He raptly gave orders, and two members uncoiled some rope from the one of the many bags attached to the camel's ornate saddle.

Rex stiffened as they advanced, and he raised his arms apprehensively. "Don't do anything, you stupid boy. We are to play along and let them take us." Van Kleiss said to Rex, who dropped his arms. Well why didn't Van Kleiss tell him in the first place?

Once their hands were securely tied behind them, Van Kleiss's biomechanical hand causing mild panic among the group members who didn't know what the hell it was and just wrapped it tightly with extra rope, Rex and the villain were literally frog marched to one side of the camel. Tromping through the sand was no easy feat, and Rex concentrated on placing one foot ahead of the other. He had no idea where they were going, and he knew Van Kleiss didn't either.

The sun had set long ago, and the moon rose like a big white dinner plate high above in the starry sky as the troupe and its captives trekked steadily through the night. Rex's bonds chaffed at his wrists, and he felt dizzy with hunger and thirst. He wondered how much longer they had to walk. Hopefully they would reach a rest stop.

Rex got his wish as the troupe came to a stop at the top of a cliff that overlooked a valley. The sand had started to adopt a muddy and grassy composition and more palm trees and vegetation were scattered around. An enormous river stretched alongside the sprawl of civilization nestled within the green valley. Rex could see many pinpoints of light dotted throughout the city, and a magnificent white-walled palace gleaming on a faraway hill that overlooked it. He was promptly shoved from behind by the leader of the band, who grunted at him to probably stop ogling and get moving.

Rex and Van Kleiss came to a well-beaten dirt road, and the troupe picked up their pace. The road sloped downwards towards the very outskirts of the city. Dust was churned up as they jogged down the slope, their captives trundling behind awkwardly. Van Kleiss suspected these robbers had a hideout, close enough to the city, but far away if they need to make an escape. At the base of hill, Rex saw a small clay building with several animal pens around the outside of it. Trees and bushes decorated the surroundings and the ground became very muddy and wet.

The band came to a halt a few yards away from the building, and its leader came to face Rex and Van Kleiss. He spoke at them in his exotic tongue, scrutinizing them closely. Rex stared back at the leader, who equally returned his gaze while Van Kleiss surveyed the situation calmly.

Suddenly, the man spoke out a single word, pointing to himself sharply, "Wosret". "Wosret". Van Kleiss repeated as Rex looked on in confusion. "Did I miss something here…?" "Say it, fool." Van Kleiss hissed. "Wosret". Rex said, and the band burst again into laughter. Wosret calmed them down and nodded towards the two companions, then turned to his followers and ordered them to do something. The camel-handler led the camel away to a designated pen, while the other three disappeared into the building.

Rex and Van Kleiss were subject to Wosret's unrelenting gaze, still bound and bone tired. Rex would have _killed _for some food and a flat surface to lie down on. He couldn't even remember the last time he slept or ate. The four followers returned, speaking to Wosret, who nodded and walked towards Rex and Van Kleiss.

He unsheathed his curved sickle, and cut Rex loose first. The teen rubbed his wrists to get circulation back into them, and unexpectedly tiredly swayed on his feet. Wosret took immediate notice of this and called to one of his associates, who came forward and grabbed Rex by the arm and attempted to lead him somewhere. Rex dug his heels in, but Van Kleiss said, "We are prisoners. Play along."

The man led him to a small wooden lean-to around the back of the house. He tossed a small hunk of bread to Rex and gestured towards the entrance of the lean-to. Rex caught it gratefully, and nearly woofed the whole thing down when Van Kleiss appeared escorted by another man. The man handed Van Kleiss a small earthenware jug and left them.

"Pass me some, I'm thirsty too!" Rex nearly whined as Van Kleiss took his fill. As Rex poured the sweet water into his mouth, Van Kleiss said, "Now that we have established where the hell we are, we once again must look for sources of magnetite and use our nanites as an indicator. However, I have a feeling there was more ZAG-RS requires us to do…" The villain thought for a moment about what it could be. Time travel was serious business, and interfering with the past undoubtedly changed the future, so what was so special about this particular time period?

Van Kleiss hated all the complicated deciphering, and cursed the time-travel machine and its little program too.

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><p><strong>1) Little Brother<br>**

**Review, for the next chapter to be up in a semi-reasonable time! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters listed in this story except for my own. _Generator Rex _****is not mine. **

**Note: Holy long update batman! School is seriously a job and finals are draining. I thank those who have read my story, especially those who have reviewed. **

**I will complain no longer but present you with this chapter. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and enjoy all the merry-making and Christmas swag! **

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

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><p>Bobo dodged around a light post and jumped over a hedge. He nearly yelled when he unknowingly came face to face with the E.V.O. and fired point blank at the creature, thoroughly startled. He gave a frustrated snarl when the E.V.O. scampered away quicker than the eye could follow. "I know what category four means, but this is a one in terms of annoyin'!" Bobo called to Six, who of course ignored him but was solely focused on capturing the creature.<p>

Half an hour had passed since Providence had answered the call at the downtown park. The E.V.O. was no bigger than a small car and resembled a large brown bear, but with four eyes. As Bobo first chased the E.V.O., he could see why it was correctly labeled as a category four. On the small side and relatively harmlessly, the E.V.O. looked easy to capture and Bobo was ready to head back to HQ in lickety-split. He was sorely mistaken once the E.V.O began to divide and multiply rapidly, shuddering once then producing a clone. Every time he tried to attack the thing, it reproduced like some crazed weed on plant steroids, if that any sense.

Bobo spotted a clone a few yards away in the heart of the park. He stealthily snuck his way in its direction, ever so quietly. As if with a sixth sense, the E.V.O scuttled around and gnashed its nubby teeth at the chimpanzee, seemingly goading the already irate Bobo. It became a game of gnashing ones teeth furiously as creature and chimpanzee dared each other to make their move.

Their bout was abruptly cut short when Six barged in, leaping high into the air and sweeping his brightly gleaming katanas towards the E.V.O. Bobo blinked once and shook his head to clear his thoughts, joining Six in the battle with renewed vigor. "How do we stop 'em from multiplying? I ain't got all day!" Bobo yelled to Six, firing some shots off at another clone. "We try…a different approach." the agent answered, and swung his blades together to form his magnetic blade.

He pointed it in the direction of the E.V.O. and to Bobo's astonishment; the creature shivered suddenly but did not divide. "The nanites within this E.V.O somehow cause it to create clones of its self, but when the nanites react with magnetism, the reaction goes in reverse." Six said, answering a silently gaping Bobo. Six was momentarily distracted when an E.V.O clone suddenly attacked him from behind and he separated his blades to par the blow. The first clone scuttled off and Bobo gave chase. He followed it down the street and let out a curse as he saw it enter an ice cream parlor, customers screeching hysterically and running out of the shop. This E.V.O. was so damn frustrating!

Watching through the shop's glass windows, Bobo waited until all the people had evacuated the parlor before he entered, his two red blasters held out in front of him. "Got you now, sucka." Bobo growled, and in response the creature gnashed its teeth. Six burst into the shop and shouted at Bobo, "Get behind the counter and rip as much paneling off the ice cream machine as you can." "Why, do you want soft serve?" Bobo asked confusedly, and received a cold glare from Six. "Alright, alright." the chimp grumbled, and leapt over the counter. Right, he forgot the sixth most dangerous man in the world was impervious to humor.

Underneath the steel grating onto which excess ice cream dripped during its transfer onto a cone, a large gray panel covered the bottom half of the machine. Bobo stepped back and fired at it until it was dented and a large hole was present. "I did what you wanted me to do, and— ." Bobo called to Six. The chimp dove to once side as the chair flew straight at him and connected with the machine. Bobo could hear the E.V.O. grunting and snorting as it evaded Six and pieces of furniture being destroyed in the process.

When he peered over the counter cautiously, he saw several seat cushions lining the walls ripped and chairs overturned and bent out of shape. Six was struggling to corner the E.V.O., but he nonetheless replied, "Good. Now move out of the way." He again snapped his blades together. He pointed his sword resembling a tuning fork at the damage Bobo had wrecked onto the machine. At once the machine began to hum and shake, and the metal tables and chairs began to slowly slide forward towards the counter.

Bobo's animal sense told him to exit the shop, and he hurriedly did so, avoiding sliding furniture. Six then trained his blade on the E.V.O. which at once began shrieking and thrashing. Outside, Bobo turned around in alarm to see several of the E.V.O. clones flying through the air towards him at high speeds. He barely had time to throw himself flat and cover his head as the E.V.O.s crashed loudly through the shop's windows, strewing glass everywhere. Bobo got to his feet to watch all the clones merge simultaneously in a tangle of limbs and noisy squeals.

A single E.V.O. inhabited the shop now, and Six detached his blades. At once all the metal chairs and tables ceased moving and settled in a giant mess around the counter. The E.V.O. collapsed onto one side, all four eyes closed. Providence agents appeared and streamed passed Bobo, who watched them ensnare it with a net and begin the haul it away. As Six walked out of the destroyed parlor, Bobo demanded, "What the hell did you just do?"

Six kept walking as he coolly explained, "The motor of an ice cream machine makes a strong electromagnet, and nanites are subdued by magnetism. Since the motor of the machine is based around magnetism, it served a greater purpose then producing ice cream today." Bobo seriously thought about his for a moment, but gave up after a little while. Ice cream was for eating, and its machine he could care less about its meaning, much less after his beating.

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><p>Rex awoke to a sharp jab to his ribs and he sat up quickly, memories of where he was exactly came flooding back to him. He slowly opened his eyes to see a disheveled Van Kleiss peering down his long grey nose at him and mouth set in a grim line. "Get up." Van Kleiss ordered, "We have to see why they kept us alive." The inside of the lean-to was dark save for rays of sun-light that shone through the cracks in the wood. Straw scratched at Rex's arms through his jacket and he coughed at the fine layer of dust that coated the floor.<p>

"What are you talking about? Who are they…? Oh!" Rex asked, and then remembered who Van Kleiss was referring to. Van Kleiss restrained himself from giving Rex a full blown sneer and reminded himself who he had the pleasure of talking to. "This property is empty except for the livestock and one Egyptian assigned to keep watch over us. The robbers stole artifacts from the pyramid we were unfortunate enough to witness, but it seems they have a greater purpose."

"And what would that purpose be, O great one?" Rex sarcastically questioned, smirking as he stood up and brushed himself off. Van Kleiss narrowed his eyes and Rex's smirk grew couldn't resists pushing Van Kleiss buttons every once in a while. "Our plan is to survey the inside of Wosret's room, which is on the second floor. You are to fake an illness to distract the sentry while I slip undetected to the room."

"That's fine and dandy except for one tiny problem. If we get detected, they will have no reason to keep us alive anymore. Plus, what are we trying to learn from the artifacts they stole?" Van Kleiss had to agree with Rex on this one. The villain carefully constructed an answer, "I believe the artifacts are a part of bartering system. If they are absent from Wosret's room, it is safe to assume they were exchanged for something and the robbers received immediate gratification. However, if they are still here, which I doubt, this means these robbers are working for a higher authority and are under orders."

Rex contemplated Van Kleiss's response. Something bugged him about these robbers. They seemed different. "Do our captors seem different to you?" Rex asked Van Kleiss. "In what way are you referring to?" Rex felt a thread of information struggling to pop to the surface of his brain and he focused hard. He had read about this time period in his boring-as-hell World History book. Rex put a hand to his chin and ignored Van Kleiss who was starting to regard him impatiently. He thought long and hard, and it then hit him. Rex nearly jumped up in excitement.

"These men aren't Egyptians! Their skin is too dark!" The look on Van Kleiss's face told Rex the comment was completely arbitrary and somewhat discriminatory, and Rex rapidly backtracked to explain. "I mean, the robbers can't be Egyptians, but Nubians. Nubians are from modern day Sudan and were depicted by the Egyptians as having dark skin! The Nubians were at odds at the Egyptians because of their vast wealth in gold the Egyptians sought after." Rex looked Van Kleiss straight in the eye as he finished, satisfied that the input he gave was sufficient. The villain gave a small nod, his face impassive as usual.

Van Kleiss had to give the boy some credit here.

Unfortunately, this new piece of information created even more questions for their dilemma. Why would Nubians be here to steal Egyptian artifacts with all their wealth and possibly exchange them for something? Were they sent, and by whom?

Van Kleiss never got the chance to respond when their conversation was interrupted by Wosret's abrupt entrance into the lean-to. He surveyed them with his large brown eyes, making Rex feel a little uncomfortable under his somewhat penetrating gaze, and shooed them out with his sickle. They were thrust into the harsh sunlight and open air, and the companions felt themselves grabbed a hold of by two robbers and forced to walk to an unknown destination, Wosret leading the way.

Once his eyes adjusted, Rex saw that he and Van Kleiss were being marched towards the base of the hill near the path they had traveled down the night before. The muddy ground became dusty and thankfully firm. The two remaining group members were waiting for them in a dusty clearing, weapons in hand. Rex's heart beat faster as they neared their destination. If they were going to die, they wouldn't go down without a fight, and Rex tried to make eye contact with Van Kleiss to assure himself the villain felt the same way.

They were released and Wosret motioned for the weapon holding members to come forth. They thrust identical swords into Rex and Van Kleiss hands. Rex confusedly looked at Van Kleiss for and explanation, but when Wosret unsheathed two sickles and lunged at the companions, Rex focused his concentration blocking the unexpected blow.

* * *

><p>"Esto no está funcionando!"¹ César exclaimed, wiping sweat from his brow and pushing his soldering goggles up to his forehead. For nearly three hours, César and his team had worked arduously to make the necessary changes to Purgatory's nanite extracting machine. The inventor had first successfully made NECIP run as the primary program the machine used. The next step was to modify the machine to still extract active nanites, but deactivate them for NECIP to use.<p>

César and Dr. Holiday had also calculated an estimated percentage of how many nanites could be extracted from an E.V.O. without propagating death or illness. This percentage was very small and regrettably called for many E.V.O.s to be used. Dr. Holiday had not been exactly thrilled to say the least at his findings that were unfortunately the same as her own, but she agreed to continue looking for a solution while César moved on to his next task.

"I am missing something! This machine cannot seem to deactivate nanites." César muttered, exasperated beyond belief. His ear piece buzzed as Dr. Holiday radioed in, "César, report. Six and Bobo have our first test subject which is on its way now." "The machine can't seem to accept the task of deactivating nanites. There is something preventing it from doing so." Dr. Holiday took a deep breath at the news. If they didn't move now, White Knight wouldn't hesitate to turn off the time machine; leaving Rex to face whatever danger he was in. "Purgatory's machine has a sort of safety switch, which I am sure you have disabled, in the event there are too many nanites for storage. This switch can deactivate nanites for an extended amount of time using giant electromagnets. You would have to flood the machine with nanites…" "Or trick the machine into thinking there is an emergency! Maravilloso! Gracias médico!²"

César hurried over to the central computer of the base and set about altering NECIP to trigger the emergency system of the nanite extracting machine. Once this was done, NECIP was to prolong the emergency in order to use the nanites. On the other hand, inputting NECIP into the time machine was a challenge César still had yet to solve.

"I'm revising NECIP to activate the emergency system. Wait for the alarm to go off. As soon as it does, switch the power of the electromagnets to full." César called out to a team member. The man nodded and relayed the message to his coworkers, hurrying to a computer console. César thought about different solutions to the problem of transferring NECIP into the time machine. He grimly chuckled to himself as he began to regret building ZAG-RS. The program was made too impenetrable, its creator not even able to bypass it.

Red lights exploded overhead and a piercing siren filled the air and César typed faster. He let out an excited whoop as he observed NECIP's strength increase exponentially, but noticed in dismay the rapid rate in which the program consumed nanites. A technician came up to him, shouting to be heard over the alarm, "We have to shut the emergency system off! If NECIP empties the machines reserve of nanites, the machine will fail and be beyond repair!" "Ok! Turn it off!" César loudly responded and the engineer ran off. The inventor placed his hands on the console and let out a frustrated breath, shaking his head. NECIP quickly used the finite amounts of nanites and the machine could only extract less than ten percent of and E.V.O.'s nanites. César had asked Dr. Holiday what percentage of Rex's nanites were extracted at each time of Rex's off loads, the doctor responded it was the same percentage as his calculated one, placing him back at square one.

César began to brainstorm and he entertained an idea that gradually became a solution the more he thought. If he made a virus type program that fed off ZAG-RS's energy, he could weaken ZAG-RS to an extent. The program would be distracted trying to eliminate the virus and César could then insert NECIP and gain partial control over the machine. NECIP would then not have to take on ZAG-RS alone. The virus would continually aid in giving César more control as it took over. The only drawback he envisioned was the virus multiplying out of control and conflicting with the time machine's functionality.

The old spark of inventiveness sprung up in César again as he felt hope well inside of him and computer coding dance invisibly in his mind. He put a finger to his ear piece, a smile slowly spreading across his face, "Dr. Holiday, I believe I have a solution to our problem."

* * *

><p>Rex danced away from Wosret and let Van Kleiss dish out a deadly swing at Wosret. The Nubian man grinned, his white teeth gleaming and without missing a beat, disarmed Van Kleiss, sending the sword a few yards away. The villain rolled to get his sword and Rex saw this as his opportunity to swing. He came low at Wosret, intending to surprise the man but Wosret saw through Rex's ruse and swept the boy's feet from out under him.<p>

Rex landed flat on his back, holding in his breath as the tip of Wosret's sickle pressed into his throat. He noticed Van Kleiss creeping up lowly for behind, and he tried to train his eyes on Wosret. As Wosret spun to deflect Van Kleiss, Rex drop-kicked the man and Wosret fell to his side, losing one of his sickles.

Wosret rolled in the dust and in the process scooped up a handful. He threw it in the face of an oncoming Van Kleiss and gave a punch to the blinded villain's gut. Van Kleiss doubled over but drove his head into Wosret's chin and then elbowed him in the nose. Blood rained down onto the dust as Wosret wiped his nose with a hand.

Rex then entered the fray, slashing at Wosret with his sword. Sweat dripped down his temples and its saltiness stung his eyes, but Rex determinedly fought the smaller Nubian man. Blades locked, Rex clenched his teeth as he tried to push his way out of the dead lock. As if from a great distance, Rex saw a charging Van Kleiss with Wosret's sickle and a sword.

Quicker than Rex expected him to, Wosret dropped his guard, causing Rex to stumble forward at the sudden release of pressure. He soundly punched Rex in the jaw, knocking the teen to the ground. Rex saw stars as Wosret's fist connected and he collapsed, dazed from the blow. After delivering the hit, Wosret sidestepped Van Kleiss and tripped the villain. Van Kleiss lost his grip on both weapons and fell heavily. Wosret pressed the tip of one his sickles into Van Kleiss throat, grinning gloatingly. Anger bubbled up in Van Kleiss and the villain narrowed his eyes coldly at the man instead, wanting to knock every single white tooth out of his mouth. Damn him and his teeth.

Van Kleiss heard Rex groan, and with a slight turn of his head, saw the boy sit up gingerly, clutching his face all the while. Wosret stepped away from Van Kleiss, sheathing his sickles and calling to one of his men. He was given a small water skin pouch that presumably contained water which he drank from and a rag to wipe the sweat from his bald head.

"Damn, wasn't that a thrashing? Was he testing us—'' Rex started when Van Kleiss cut him off sharply, "Don't speak." Rex snapped his mouth shut and immediately winced, regretting his movement. He couldn't remember the last time he had been punched point blank in the face but this hurt like hell. Rex assumed this little "exercise" was a test of sorts, to see how valuable they were. He hoped they passed. It was worse enough they could die in a time not their own, and to a bunch of robbers!

Wosret took his time fixing his gaze on the two companions, walking in a small circle around them. He quietly conversed with a group member, never taking his eyes off the two prisoners. Van Kleiss focused his glare at the ground and Rex sensed the villain was nursing wounded pride. Rex chuckled to himself at this. The greatest and intellectual evil mastermind the 21st century had ever seen was pouting over a lost fight to a small African man. Rex couldn't help but let out a chortle, and Van Kleiss shot him a wintery glare that could have frozen the blistering mid-morning sun.

Van Kleiss felt like giving Rex a good slap. The boy never thought farther than one hour. He was too busy bumbling ahead. If they had wounded Wosret in any way, the robbers wouldn't have hesitated to kill them, so this battle was thankfully lost for their desirable futures. The boy should be thankful; Van Kleiss practically saved their lives! Providence's so called secret weapon was nothing more than a child, waiting to be spoon fed action to satiate his fantasy of saving the world heroically, a talking chimpanzee by his side. Van Kleiss snorted to himself at this amusing last thought as he stared aimlessly at the ground.

Van Kleiss and Rex snapped to attention as Wosret barked something at them, gesturing for them to stand. He looked at the both of them and fired off what sounded like an order. The two companions were given their original swords and then Wosret pointed to the hill and grinned, speaking rapidly in his tongue. The group members began to chant and clap, stamping their feet and turning in small circles, hooting all the while. Suddenly they stopped and Wosret boomed a single word that sound like "egzzplas" to Rex. The group turned and marched in the direction of their house, excitedly conversing with one another. Rex and Van Kleiss remained frozen in place as Wosret held both of their gazes.

He gave a slight nod to each of them and he raised his sickle to the hill and spoke the word again, "egzzplas". Wosret gave them a full blown grin and ushered them to follow his band of robbers. Rex seriously thought the man was deranged, grinning like some skeleton all the time. It was downright creepy.

He would have to keep an eye on this small, dark-skinned grinning man along with King Sarcasm.

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><p><strong><strong>1) This is not working! 2) Marvelous! Thank you doctor! <strong>**

**How was that? Was this chapter in any way connected to the plot of this story?**

**Were the Spanish translations incorrect? **

**Review and let me know!  
><strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Generator Rex _or its characters. Man of Action has that pleasure. **

**Crapola, it's been awhile. I warn this chapter is a little shorter, but is hopefully an acceptable continuation of the story. **

**As always, please leave a review and let me know how the chapter is. Enjoy!**

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><p>César typed furiously at his computer, a hologram carefully constructing itself over a glowing panel in his laboratory. He growled in annoyance with himself as the prototype once again developed several red spots and promptly self-disintegrated into photons. For hours now he had struggled to develop a program that could withstand an onslaught of attacks from ZAG-RS and fuse with NECIP. Time was running out before White Knight lost his patience and Rex was lost in time.<p>

The intercom built into his keyboard buzzed with sound as Dr. Holiday radioed in. "How is it coming along, César?" she asked. "Terrible. The program continues to have problems in withstanding potent attacks and multiplying quickly enough." A tiny light bulb went off in his head, and began talking out loud and typing. "I could use a bio-polymer material infected with nanite type virus. This virus program would be partially organic, therefore multiplying with unprecedented speed throughout ZAG-RS' system. NECIP would still use up nanites quickly, but would be modified to use the virus converted nanites efficiently. This could work!" César said excitedly.

Dr. Holiday felt like breathing a sigh of relief.

In no time, César formulated the program, upgrading NECIP in the process. The inventor transferred the program into a small chip and handed it to Six. "We should be able to control the machine for approximately…" César did some quick calculations off the top of his head, "…five minutes." Bobo nearly choked on the potato chips he was consuming, and sprayed Six's shoes with crumbs as he said, "I hate to rain on the parade, but that's how long it takes to use the little chimp's room. Can't you add any more time?"

César shook his head, "Hopefully the virus replication process will delay ZAG-RS attacking NECIP. In the meantime, we can pinpoint where in time Rex is." Six nodded his affirmative and placed a hand on César's shoulder, "We'll find him."

Six and Bobo made their way down the familiar gloom passage of the abandoned science building leading to the time machine. "Remind exactly what we are gonna do once we stick this chip in, will ya? We can't exactly start celebrating." Bobo asked. "We stick to the plan and locate where in time Rex is and, if possible, control the machine enough to bring Rex forward in time."

Bobo's hackles rose as they entered the destroyed room illuminated in a red glow. The room just gave him the creeps. "You return to fail a second time." ZAG-RS stated rather tauntingly. "Naw, just to come and do some more damage." Bobo couldn't help but reply. Six opened the side panel of machine and inserted the chip to a designated port. At once ZAG-RS began to hum and whir.

Six darted to the control board, waiting for any indication NECIP "2.0" was working. "You cannot defeat me. The synthetic compound you have inserted is now being destroyed." ZAG-RS chilling boomed, starting to confirm Six's worst fears. The board sparked and cackled with energy, causing Six to retreat to a safe distance.

The energy formed into a large bolt that struck at Six who leapt out of the way with agility. More bolts formed that continued to pursue Six. "Keep it distracted!" the agent yelled to Bobo who took one look at his blasters then to the bolts of energy and decided this was going to be a very bad day. The bolt caught the deliberating chimp by surprise, singing his fur black.

Yep, a very bad day.

Six went back to the computer keyboard only to find it showed no signs of ZAG-RS' control. He read the information that streamed by on the screen in chunks carefully. From this insight, Six deduced Rex and Van Kleiss were currently in 1300 B.C., but the agent could not figure out where on the planet they were. He typed quickly, and more information poured out as NECIP's virus multiplied and granted more access.

Bobo was having a hell of a time dodging the bolts on energy. He had long ago ditched his blasters and was now running willy-nilly around the room. His hide was smarting the last time he had been hit, and his temper was slowly rising. "Have you discovered anything yet, _Einstein?_" Bobo yelled hysterically.

Six now could input the destination of the time travelers, and he steadily typed the date, time and place. The machine was starting to shake and shudder and Six hoped NECIP could hold out a little bit longer. He pushed the enter key, and ZAG-RS boomed, "The virus has been obliterated. You have no access." The keyboard sparked as ZAG-RS struggled against the command Six had imputed.

A blue portal was starting to appear a few feet to right of the machine, affecting the debris in the room as they were picked up and swirled around the room. Bobo ducked as he was nearly taken out by a large coffee mug hurtling towards his face and Six crouched low to the ground.

The agents waited anxiously for any indication of the return of Rex as the blue portal glowed brighter and brighter. "No…it can't be…" Bobo said, gob smacked at what started to appear out of the portal.

* * *

><p>Night was gently settling over the Egyptian city, the Sun slowly setting and bathing the Earth in its dying orange glow. A small chill could be detected in the air and the river water rippled smoothly.<p>

Rex and Van Kleiss were dressed from head to toe in black garb and stood motionlessly at the top of a grassy knoll. Wosret's band was huddled a few feet away from them, conversing in hushed tones as Wosret sat on the ground, sharpening his sickle on a stone. Rex tightly gripped the hilt of the sheathed sword that now hung at his hip, mentally wishing he was anywhere but here.

Van Kleiss similarly had a sword and scabbard, but instead of wishing fruitlessly he tried to calculate what exactly Wosret intended for them to do. The Nubian man had ordered them to dress in these dark clothes and had also armed his troupe. Van Kleiss suspected they were obviously going on a raid, as some members had rough sacks tied to their waists, but why take two prisoners that could alert the entire town?

His focus was diverted when Wosret snapped an order at them, and he and Rex turned to face him. Wosret pointed to both of them and then to the road leading into the city. He motioned for the two companions to start walking.

Wosret and his band followed a small distance behind them, confusing Van Kleiss of their motives even more. "Do you know where they want us to go?" Rex whispered suddenly and Van Kleiss shook his head in the negative and responded, "It would be in our best interests to refrain from talking and to increase our awareness." They continued along the dirt road and could see farmers returning to their mud and thatch homes, children laughing and running in the mud, and a few vendors shouting their wares.

Rex jumped and let out a startled yelp as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly and looked into the face of a grinning Wosret. There had to be some inside joke that ran continually for this man to leer in such an unsettling manner.

It became a game of charades as Wosret began to form shapes and objects. "He is warning us of arrows from archers…" Van Kleiss guessed out loud quietly while Rex stared confusedly at the Nubian man. At the end of his motioning, he put a finger to his lips and mimicked tiptoeing, finally pointing to Van Kleiss and Rex.

"Uh, he wants us to do what?" Rex asked, scratching his head.

"Follow me and close your mouth, boy." Van Kleiss replied, and together they snuck into the slowly sleeping city.

As they carefully thread their way through darkened alley ways and closed shop stalls, Rex could no longer sense Wosret and his band behind them. He casually glanced over his shoulder to affirm his speculation. "Any reason why creepy grinning man is not following us?" Rex asked Van Kleiss in a hushed tone. Van Kleiss ignored him and held up a hand instead.

He pushed Rex behind a large barrel and together they crouched behind it. Van Kleiss silently pointed to something, and Rex peeked from behind the barrel. He hastily concealed himself as a platoon of spear wielding soldiers marched by.

"We must make it to the castle. Wosret will be waiting there." Van Kleiss said, and as soon as the soldiers were out of sight, sprinted to the next shop, Rex following closely. They continued their stop and go pattern, hiding at the sight of soldiers and moving quickly once they were gone.

Soon, they were silently trekking up the hill leading to the majestic palace. Horse stables were constructed to one side to the large limestone building, and here Rex and Van Kleiss hid themselves. A few horses snorted as they entered the stable. "Alright, where to now? Wosret is obviously not here. And the smell is starting to get to me!" Rex said.

Van Kleiss narrowed his eyes before answering, "It appears we may have been set up." A look of confusion spread over Rex's face, and he opened his mouth to question when Van Kleiss let out a yell and pushed the teen roughly to the ground. Several arrows whizzed by and the horses grew frightened, some neighing in distress and tossing their heads.

"What the hell was that?" Rex asked in alarm as the projectiles flew overhead. Van Kleiss had no time to answer as he shouted for Rex to follow him. They charged the archers, and together rammed their way out of the stable. A large of soldiers waited for them outside, and Van Kleiss roughly blocked a spear with his sword from a charging solider, disarming him and flinging the poor man into his own comrades.

Rex dished out a kick to one soldier, ducking as another one rushed at him and tripping him. He exchanging blows with a soldier, their swords clanging loudly. Suddenly, Rex felt a familiar hum fill his entire being. "No…it can't be…" he said in wonder, looking at his hands.

"Van Kleiss! The Portal! Inside the castle, er…I mean palace!" Rex shouted to the villain. "Let's move!" Van Kleiss shouted in reply, and with one last heave, knocked all remaining soldiers to the ground with a mighty punch. The companions dashed into the main hall of the palace and were once again met with archers and more soldiers.

A thought nagged Van Kleiss as he and Rex battled their adversaries, the chaos and confusion adding to it. Something didn't quite make sense. He too felt his nanites respond as they had entered the palace, but why here? What major iron deposit would reside in a palace, unless…

"Rex! Follow me! The armory room is where the portal is!" Van Kleiss shouted in realization as he avoided a volley of arrows and blocked a spear thrust with his biomechanical arm. The main entrance hallway split into two adjacent corridors, and Van Kleiss and Rex picked a random doorway, running down the left pathway closely flanked by soldiers.

The hallway ended into large room that Rex soon comprehended to be the throne room. They were met by a melee that involved several guards and Wosret's band. Wosret's face was twisted into a snarl, his sickles gleaming devilishly in red in the torch light. Rex lowered his sword slightly as he watched a small teenage Egyptian boy fleeing the room with guards following close behind him. The boy had on an elaborate tunic and gold plated wrist cuffs. He was noticeably bald and rough sandals adorned his feet.

The companions worked to take out he guards that had followed them. Rex spun and with a flying leap, slashed at one guard. Surprisingly fast, the guard deflected the blow and smashed the hilt of his sword into the nose of Rex's. It began to bleed profusely, and dizzily Rex raised his arm to stem the flow. He rolled out of the way as the same guard advanced readily and struck out at the teen, missing by a hair. Van Kleiss came out of nowhere and knocked the guard out cold and unexpectedly helped Rex to his feet. The villain's face looked slightly unfocused to Rex and as a desperately tried to stop his nose from painfully bleeding.

Rex's attention was brought back to the melee when Wosret gave a roar of rage at the sight of the fleeing boy and took off in pursuit. The nagging feeling that was plaguing Van Kleiss suddenly surfaced into a coherent thought. "We must protect that boy! He must not be killed, but harmed!" Van Kleiss hollered to Rex above the din, and Rex followed him again in misunderstanding.

"Mine tellib me wha' da deal is?" Rex asked despite his bleeding nose as they ran down the hallway in pursuit of Wosret and the bald boy. "That boy. He's not just any boy. He's…" Van Kleiss began, but stopped when they reached a room stocked with weapons and large blue portal in one corner. The guards that had followed the boy were dead and lying face down in pools of their own blood. Wosret was standing triumphantly above the boy who was sprawled on the ground and holding a hand up in a minuscule defense. Fear was plastered on his face and he slightly trembled.

"Itz King Tut." Rex whispered.

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><p><strong>Review!<strong>


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